Chateau Giscours 2023

Some clear Cabernet notes on the nose, herbal elements, blackcurrant leaf and cranberry fruit. Smells ripe and cool with gorgeous milk chocolate elements. Energy is the first thing that springs to mind. There’s power here but there’s precision and velvety tannins to this too which gives both structure and brightness. Excellent harmony, this has roundness and depth, not too lean, with crunchy and really present chalky, wet stone tannins. Cranberry and strawberry with blueberry. Still lean, it’s straight but finessed with long, lingering flavours. It’s not as soft and plush as Giscours can be, not as naturally sexy, it’s more serious, but there’s suaveness here. Excellent effort. 3.75pH. Ageing 50% new oak. 70% grand vin production.

The 2023 Giscours is a potent, brooding wine. Black cherry, plum, new leather, dried herbs, chocolate and gravel infuse the palate with notable depth and intensity. This has really shut down post-bottling. Giscours is usually much more charming in its youth. Today, the stress of a vintage marked by heat and low yields of just 30 hectoliters per hectare comes through in the wine's tannic profile and overall feel.

One of the better wines from the appellation kicks off with an aromatic display of flowers, smoke, truffle, blackberries, cherries, and forest leaves. Elegant, refined, and vibrant, there is a gorgeous sense of purity to the sweet, red berries with just a hint of cocoa that shows up at the end of the finish. The wine is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc. Drink from 2028-2047.

Deep dark ruby, opaque core, purple reflections, brightening on the edge. Delicately tobacco-like, nougat, Black Forest berries, a hint of fresh figs, inviting bouquet. Juicy and elegant on the palate, candied violets, ripe plums, round tannins, full-bodied and persistent, good balance, some chocolate on the finish, good length, has certain ageing potential.

Inky, expertly constructed, with fleshy blackberry, pomegranate and cassis fruits, black pepper, sage, rosemary and smoked cumin spice, showing lift, nuance and drive across the palate; clearly an excellent vintage at Giscours, despite relatively low 31hl/ha yields.

Score: 94–96. Like a summer field, warm grass, fresh hay and sun-warmed earth form a very bucolic bouquet, where a few small fruits (raspberry, red plum) add a touch of color. The palate is both precise and generous, at once vertical and rounded, with energizing fruit and velvety tannins, caressed like a rose petal. A finish marked by notes of aromatic herbs.

The raspberry aroma reveals Giscours, deep, with top fruit and floral notes; a creamy palate, silky tannins enveloping the fruit, balanced, with impressive length; a very successful Giscours.

94-96. Barrel Sample. This is a fresh wine from the south of Margaux, delivering elegant tannins and juicy black-currant fruits. It has this core of dryness that gives the wine its structure. The wine has a light touch, balanced already.