95pts Wine Enthusiast

Dark and structured, this is a firm wine. It has a smoky wood character, powerful tannins over intensely ripe fruit. Acidity and sweetness balance to give a dense wine, powered with richness and destined to age for many years.  Cellar Selection

94pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The finest Giscours in my professional career (I said the same thing from barrel), this dense purple wine has a stunning nose of burning embers, charcoal, creme de cassis, new saddle leather and damp, forest floor notes. It is full-bodied, with exceptionally sweet, well-integrated tannins and a multi-dimensional, almost skyscraper-like mid-palate and finish. With its low acidity and remarkable substance and depth, this gorgeous wine should age beautifully for 20-30 years.

94pts James Suckling

This powerful, yet well-structured Margaux has a lot of positive cabernet sauvignon character (cassis, ripe plum) for the appellation. Long, very clean positive finish. Drink or hold.

94pts Decanter

Silky and rich, this showcases black cherry with gourmet touches and swirls of black pepper and rosemary. There's certainly an exotic edge here, with the natural drawing in of its Médoc tannins and highly enjoyable mouthwatering finish. It's a good Giscours with clear personality, focus and balance. Decant if drinking it in the next five years.

93pts Wine Spectator

This is alluring, with lots of incense, warm espresso and roasted mesquite notes leading the way for a sleek core of mouthwatering black currant and blackberry fruit. The long finish lets the mesquite edge linger, with well-embedded grip. Rock-solid. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2014 through 2029.

93pts Vinous

The 2009 Giscours has a generous and complex bouquet with well defined blackberry, cedar, mocha and light ferrous notes, more like a Saint-Julien than Margaux. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, fresh and vibrant with curry leaf and graphite. A dash of white pepper pops up towards the finish. This is a very fine Giscours to enjoy over the next 15 to 20 years.

91pts International Wine Cellar

Good dark red. Blackberry, licorice, leather, chocolate and a whiff of peat on the nose. Intensely flavored, fine-grained and lively, with noteworthy energy to its dark berry and dark chocolate flavors. A firmly built wine in a rather cool style for the year, finishing with chocolatey tannins, a lightly herbal quality and very good length. Very well done.

Winemaker Notes

Aged in high quality oak barrels, the wine acquires its complexity over a period of months, subtly combining aromas of dark fruit and spices with the tannins in the wood, to reach a sublime balance. The complex blending procedure, an important stage in the production of this great wine, requires the most advanced skills of the cellar master and their team. Ultimately, all the traditional qualities of a great Margaux are assembled: the finesse of the tannins, purity, a gentle, refined elegance, and a great length on the palate.

Winery Notes

Located on a beautiful 300 hectare estate, the 83 hectare Giscours vineyard is located in the famous Margaux appellation. Though the estate was first mentioned in a document dating back to 1330, it was not until 1847 that Count de Pescatore laid the cornerstone of the remarkable chateau that now overlooks the vines. Giscours' quality was confirmed by its inclusion as a Third Growth in the 1855 classification.
The estate was purchased by Nicolas Tari after World War II. He made major investments in modernizing Giscours. In 1995, Eric Albada Jelgersma acquired the right to grow vines and make wine on the estate. He continues to lavish the care and attention that are necessary to maintain Giscours' standing as a world-famous great growth.