Château Giscours - Margaux 2009

Wine Advocate

91 / 100

par Neal Martin le 01/01/2013

Served blind at the Southwold 2009 tasting. The Giscours '09 has a pleasant, savoury bouquet with good definition - hints of beef stock coming through. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, dusky black fruit with hints of spice and pain grille. It is quite masculine and foursquare on the finish - but it shows good length. Tasted January 2013.

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

91 / 100

par Stephen Tanzer le 31/07/2012

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.

Wine Advocate

94 / 100

par Robert Parker le 29/02/2012

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.

Jamessuckling.com

95 / 100

par James Suckling le 15/02/2012

Aromas of blueberries, blackberries and flowers. Very beautiful. Full body, with a solid core of fruit and firm tannins. Balanced and refined. This is ultra-refined. Best wine from here since 1970. One of the great values of the vintage. Best after 2018.

Wine Spectator

93 / 100

par James Molesworth le 11/01/2012

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. - J.M.

Le Figaro

94-96 / 100

par Bernard Burtschy le 30/06/2010

Robe très sombre. Nez cassis et réglisse. En bouche, l’attaque est très dense, le superbe milieu de bouche étonne par sa concentration, le vin possède une réelle profondeur, avec un joli boisé, le tout est très long. Grande réussite.

timatkin.com

94 / 100

par Tim Atkin MW le 30/06/2010

13.7% alcohol. 53 CS, 40M, 7CF A wine that continues the impressive progress made at Giscours over the last decade or so, this is on the rich side for a Margaux, but none the worse for that. Soft, rich and yet quite forward, with good concentration, well-integrated tannins, red and black fruits and an undertone of liquorice. Another wine that should be reasonably priced and will provide superb drinking in future. 15+ years.

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

90-93 / 100

par Ian D'Agata le 30/06/2010

Purple-ruby. Sexy oak-dominated aromas of cassis, clove, black pepper and lead pencil, plus a strong espresso component. Enters very rich and smooth, with lively acids nicely lifting the superripe black fruit flavors. The very long finish features a pleasant peppery coffee note and pliant though assertive tannins. This well-made wine, which will need time, is in a big, rich, ripe style that isn't easy to recognize blind as a Margaux.

La Revue du Vin de France

17,5-18,5 / 20

le 31/05/2010

Il possède une très belle ampleur et une attaque franche, avec un fruit généreux et gourmand. Le milieu de bouche est plein, avec un joli gras, mais le vin conserve son énergie et sa précision, sans sécher. Très équilibré et d'un magnifique éclat en finale.

Le Point

16,5-17 / 20

par Jacques Dupont le 06/05/2010

Nez boisé, bouche ronde, souple, bien fruitée, gras, épicé, gourmand, souple, bonne matière, un vin moelleux, séduisant, peut-être un peu moins séveux que certaines années mais qui donne l'impression de pouvoir être bu assez jeune. O=2016 G=20 ans

Falstaff

92-94 / 100

par Peter Moser le 30/04/2010

Mineralisch, dunkle Beeren, zart nach Heidelbeeren, Röstaromen, einladend. Kraftvoll, stramme Tannine, feiner Bitterschokoanklang, bleibt gut haften, Nougat auch im Nachhall, gute Länge, hat Potenzial, feine Schoko-Karamell-Note.

TAST

18 / 20

par Bettane & Desseauve le 30/04/2010

Grande vinosité, grande profondeur de texture, certainement le plus riche sur ce point des crus de Margaux présents à la dégustation à l’aveugle de l’Union, peut-être un rien moins fin que quelques autres, harmonie parfaite du tanin, aucune départ animal comme cela est parfois arrivé auparavant, grand avenir. Un parfait Giscours.

Wine Advocate

90-93 / 100

par Neal Martin le 30/04/2010

Tasted at the chateau, at a negociant and at the Margaux UGC. The harvest began on 22nd September with the Merlots and finished on 13th October for some parcels of the Cabernet, a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot using 50% new oak from seven suppliers. This is taut on the nose, very tight, introspective and slightly earthy. The palate is full-bodied with grainy tannins, deep broody dark berried fruits, touches of coca and a hint of cracked black pepper. Quite toasty towards the finish, moderate length, just a little attenuated towards the finish although the sample at the UGC was much more “strident”, containing the chutzpah that it was missing before. Like the du Tertre, I think this will show better in a couple of months. The second sample at the negociant was a better sample with some pleasant coffee notes on the aftertaste. Difficult to discern at the moment but I remain optimistic. Tasted March 2010.

Wine Enthusiast

94-96 / 100

par Roger Voss le 30/04/2010

Full of blackcurrant fruits, ripe and sweet tannins and forward fruit. The wine feels polished, ripe, smooth.–

Wein Wisser

18 / 20

par René Gabriel le 30/04/2010

Dunkles Granat. Delikates, aromatisches Bouquet, fruchtige wie auch fein florale Töne zeigend. Am Gaumen stoffiges Extrakt, Maulbeeren und Himbeeren, feinste Tannine. Ein fast schon etwas diskret ausgefallener Giscours, dessen Klasse die Feinheit ist. 2018–2036

Wine Advocate

91-93 / 100

par Robert Parker le 28/04/2010

This is the finest Giscours I have tasted in my professional career. Succulent and sexy with an inky/purple color, it offers sweet aromas of subtle barbecue smoke, graphite, blackberries, blueberries, and spring flowers. The tannins are remarkably sweet, substantial, and well-integrated, and the wine is fullbodied as well as voluptuously textured. It is a headturning, exuberant, flashy effort that should drink well for 20-25 years. Bravo! (Tasted three times.) Drink 2010-2035. (91-93*) points

Periodic Review of Wine

92-94 / 100

par Alan Duran le 28/04/2010

One of the finest Giscours made, reminiscent of the attractive 2003! There is much to offer with its deep opaque ruby-purple color followed by mulberry liqueur, crème de cassis, flower spells, plums, seared meat juices, and stone. It is another crammed Margaux of full-body, beautifully complex fruit, an expansive mouth-feel, and rich seared meat flavors linked to plum liqueur. This lingers with such elegance and persistence. It is a seductive Margaux with its own twist. Maturity period 2015-2036.

Anthony Rose

92-94 / 100

par Anthony Rose le 26/04/2010

53% cabernet sauvignon, 40% merlot and 7% cabernet franc. Dense, inky and vivid colour, fine, intense aromas with a fresh, leafy herbaceous quality of cabernet that's refreshing and attractive; the fruit is richly concentrated, lovely ripe sweet cassis cabernet concentration, supple tannins and fine spicy oak all complemented on the finish by juicy fresh acidity and fine-boned tannin that brings balance to a hugely enjoyable wine that seems destined to give a lot of pleasure at least in the medium and probably the long term also. I suspect that this will be a great value. 92-94+

Wine Spectator

92-95 / 100

par James Suckling le 09/04/2010

Subtle and pretty on the nose, with blueberry, blackberry and hints of flowers. Full and very fine, showing a beautiful texture of polished tannins. Wonderfully long and balanced. 53 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 7 percent Cabernet Franc, and the rest is Merlot.

Decanter Magazine

18 / 20

par Steven Spurrier le 09/04/2010

Fine black red, very expressive black fruits with the elegant lift from Cabernet, fine density of fruit, very good natural middle sweetness and lots of depth and vineyard character, a very good wine. Drink 2015-25.

Jancis Robinson

16 / 20

par Jancis Robinson le 07/04/2010

Very dark and lustrous. Odd herbal note. Very sweet start on the palate. Rather drying tannins but some Margaux polish and not too hot until the very end. A little drying and exaggerated on the finish. Drink 2016-2026