CHÂTEAU GISCOURS
2015 3ème Cru Classé Margaux
Not much distinction to the red winey nose. Very silky attack, quite a lightweight middle, and easy sort of milk chocolate softness. Quite supple and elegant, and well done in this style. Rating: 91-92 L&S (Apr 2016)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
The 2015 Giscours has a well-defined nose with vibrant red berry fruit, violet, iris flower and hints of camphor developing in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with plush tannins, yet this is finely chiseled with wonderful tension toward the persistent and precise finish. This is excellent and it aligns with the impressive showing in October 2024. Tasted blind at the 2015 Bordeaux Ten-Year-On tasting at Farr Vintners. Drinking range: 2027 - 2050 Rating: 95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2025)
The 2015 Giscours has a beautiful, clean, pure bouquet of generous ripe black cherry, raspberry and crushed violet aromas that could only come from Margaux. The medium-bodied palate is quite dense but wonderfully poised, offering sappy red fruit and very fine tannin and delivering impressive detail on the bay leaf and tea leaf finish. Alexandre van Beek oversaw one of the best Giscours in recent years. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. Rating: 95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jul 2019)
Plenty of violets and dark berries on offer here. This has a striking sense of purity as well as an energetic, regal palate. The structure is impressively groomed with effortless depth and length. A standout wine. Drinking range: 2022 - Rating: 96 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2018)
The 2015 Giscours is every bit as compelling from bottle as it was from barrel. Deep, powerful and virile in style, the 2015 has a lot to say. There is a purity to the aromas and flavors in the 2015 that I don't recall seeing in the past. Ripe and ample, with terrific freshness and nuance, the 2015 is compelling in every way. In 2015, the blend is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, with no Cabernet Franc. Drinking range: 2022 - 2040 Rating: 94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2018)
Polished and rounded in feel, with a solid core of plum and blackberry compote flavors, lined with light hints of charcoal, tobacco and violet. Nice perfumy tobacco and warm tar notes show on the finish. Very well-integrated, making this approachable now, but there’s no rush. Drinking range: 2020 - 2035 Rating: 93 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Jan 2018)
The 2015 Giscours is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. That is in stark comparison to older vintages, for example the 2000 Giscours that was 50/50 Cabernet and Merlot. This vintage is matured in 50% new oak. Winemaker Alexandre Van Beek told me that the 2015 "...reflects the true terroir at Giscours that created the great wines of the 1960s and 1970s." That is something to live up to with fresh memories of the 1961 in my brain. The bouquet is very intense and almost "untamed" at first, but it calms down in the glass, revealing attractive scents of blackberry, raspberry, cedar and graphite. This is a Giscours determined to make a good impression...and it does. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, very pure, a little spicier than recent vintages, adorned with a gentle crescendo in the mouth towards a really quite fantastic, tensile, complex and compelling finish. Having tasted the 1961 and 1970 Giscours just a few months ago, I wager that the 2015 will be the best since the 1961. Time to fall back in love with this great Margaux property. Drinking range: 2025 - 2060 Rating: 94-96 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
Rating: 89 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2016)
This has a convincing nose, smoky fruit, grilled almond barrel spice, the former showing a more blackcurrant-led character, with a fresh and plump style, rich not only in confident fruit, but perfumed too. The palate shows a supple texture at the start, with creamed black plum and blackcurrant, all very pure and elegant, with nothing too desiccated here, with very harmonious integration of tannins, ripe but well buried in the wine, and fresh acidity. A really charming, confident finish. Given time, this could be excellent. Rating: 17-18/20 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2016)
Slightly smoky cassis nose then good florality and fine depth of Cabernet fruit and fine tannins. Has the classic Giscours charm with more weight than usual; will show very well. Drinking range: 2021 - 2035 Rating: 92 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2016)
Dark crimson. Relatively light nose. Very luscious sweet fruit on the palate - a very winning wine with a medium charge of tannin. Just a little inky on the finish. But good and appetising. Drinking range: 2023 - 2035 Rating: 17 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2016)
The 2015 Giscours is terrific. In fact, this may be one of the very best recent vintages I have tasted here. Ample and quite broad in its first impression, the 2015 possesses magnificent depth from start to finish. Even with all of its intensity, the 2015 retains striking freshness and delineation. Succulent dark cherry, plum, blood orange and sweet spice notes all flesh out in the glass. Creamy, silky tannins add to the wine's considerable appeal. The purity of the fruit here is striking. The blend is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, with no Cabernet Franc this year. The 2015 is a terrific Giscours. Rating: 91-94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
This sets a new level for Giscours with blackberry, black truffle and blueberry. So much walnut and cedar. Full body, dense and incredibly long and powerful. Clearly the best Giscours since 1970 and 1975. Rating: 96-97 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2016)
Solid, with warm plum, fig and blackberry reduction notes, inlaid with a lovely alder accent. Flows beautifully through the long, velvety finish. Rating: 92—95 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2016)
Château Giscours
Margaux Troisième cru 1855 Château Giscours has had many owners over the years since Pierre de Lhomme bought "Guyscoutz" in 1552 and laid out an estate and vineyards. The present château was built in 1847 by Count de Pescatore. Like many Bordelais estates, Giscours was in poor condition after World War II, but its fortunes were rescued by Nicolas Tari who bought the property in 1954 and set about restoring and enlarging Giscours. In 1995, Giscours' business activities were purchased by Eric Albada Jelgersma, the owner of near-by Château du Tertre. The 83ha of vineyard are 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. The Grand Vin spends 15 to 18 months in wood (50% new). Château Giscours is home to the Bordeaux Giscours Cricket Club - the national champions!
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.