Giscours - Margaux 2015

Jamessuckling.com

96

par James Suckling le 07/08/2025

This is holding very well after 10 years now. Plush but discreet and pretty complete now, with complexity from many aspects. Deep, savory cassis, tobacco and berries, with a touch of citrus, graphite and roasted spices. Medium- to full-bodied, with ripe juicy fruit. The mid-palate is still dense, with fine-grained tannins that are still tight-wound in a long finish. Obviously a very good year for Giscours. A blend of 70% cabernet sauvignon, 25% merlot and 5% petit verdot. Ready now, but this should hold very well for another eight to ten years. Tasted in a vertical of 10 vintages

Vinous

95

par Neal Martin le 16/07/2025

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.

Vinous

95

par Neal Martin le 10/07/2019

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.

Wine Advocate

95

par Neal Martin le 02/03/2018

 The 2015 Giscours showed magnificently when I tasted it from barrel and I made allusions to the legendary 1961, which I have been fortunate to taste two or three times. I have no reason to change this view. It has a very refined bouquet that is almost understated at first, but then blossoms in the glass with copious blackberry, raspberry, flint and graphite aromas. The palate is very well balanced with great depth and real vibrancy. There is a slight chalkiness to the texture, extraordinarily fresh with superb mineral tension on the long finish. This is a great Giscours that will age beautifully over many years. Anticipated maturity: 2022 - 2060. 

Vinous

94

par Antonio Galloni le 27/02/2018

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.

Wine Advocate

94

par Lisa Perrotti-Brown le 22/02/2018

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Giscours opens with expressive cassis, blackberry and red currants on the nose with touches of cedar chest, roses and pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied with a good core of muscular fruit and firm, grainy tannins, it finishes long.

Wine Spectator

93

par James Molesworth le 15/02/2018

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. Best from 2020 through 2035. 23,333 cases made.  –JM

Jamessuckling.com

96

par James Suckling le 12/02/2018

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. Try from 2022.

Wine Enthusiast

97

par Roger Voss le 01/02/2018

This firm wine shows the tannic side of the vintage. Those tannins are dusty, enriched with black-currant fruits and a dense backdrop. The wine is concentrated and elegant, very ageworthy and not likely to be ready before 2025.

Decanter.com

95

par Jane Anson le 26/01/2018

Deep, plush fruit which is hard to push through at first - it resists rather than giving way. There are layers of muscular fruit on the palate with some gorgeous touches of tobacco and charcoal. This is one to age - and to double-decant if you're thinking about opening it up in the next decade. 50% new oak.

Wine Spectator

93

par James Molesworth le 10/01/2018

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. Best from 2020 through 2035

Jancis Robinson

17

par Julia Harding MW le 08/11/2017

Perfumed, seductive nose. Rather salty and salivatory. A little bit chunky and earthbound but lots of pleasure is available here. A nice typical wine that expresses the charm of the vintage well.

The Wine Cellar Insider

93-95

par Jeff Leve le 30/04/2016

With a dark, ruby color, the violet aromas really get you going, that is until you get hit with the sweet, black, juicy plums, cocoa, black cherry and thyme. Full-bodied, plush and polished with more concentration, structure and opulence than you normally find at Giscours. The finish is all about the freshness and focused vibrant, spicy, sweet, ripe, dark, red berries. This wine was produced from a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, reaching 13.7% alcohol and a 3.6 pH. The picking ranged from September 10 to October 9 and the Grand Vin represents 68% of the harvest.

Wine Advocate

94-96

par Neal Martin le 29/04/2016

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.

Decanter.com

92

par Steven Spurrier le 27/04/2016

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. 2021-2035

Vinous

91-94

par Antonio Galloni le 27/04/2016

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.

timatkin.com

89

par Tim Atkin MW le 20/04/2016

Jean-Marc QUARIN

16,75

par Jean-Marc Quarin le 20/04/2016

Ma meilleure note donnée à ce cru en primeur.Couleur sombre, intense et pourpre. Nez au fruité mûr. Belle entrée en bouche caressante, puis le vinoffre du corps, du goût en milieu de bouche, avant de s'achever sur des tannins fins dans une bellelongueur savoureuse et parfumée. Assemblage : 70 % cabernet sauvignon, 25 % merlot, 5 % petit verdot. Degré d'alcool : 13,7°

Wine Enthusiast

94-96

par Roger Voss le 15/04/2016

Barrel Sample. This wine is firm and rich, with ripe black-plum flavors and dense tannins. Firm and concentrated, this is an impressive wine that will age well. 95 points

Jancis Robinson

17

par Jancis Robinson le 15/04/2016

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. Drink 2023-2035

Jamessuckling.com

96-97

par James Suckling le 05/04/2016

This sets a new level for Giscours with blackberry, black truffle and blackberry. So much walnut and cedar. Full body, dense and incredibly long and powerful. Clearly the best Giscour since 1970 and 1975..

Wine Spectator

92-95

par James Molesworth le 03/04/2016

Solid, with warm plum, fig and blackberry reduction notes, inlaid with a lovely alder accent. Flows beautifully through the long, velvety finish.—J.M.