Château Giscours is a

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

in the

Margaux Margaux (; oc-gsc, Margaus) is a former commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Margaux-Cantenac.appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bo ...

of the

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The wine produced here was classified as one of fourteen ''Troisièmes Crus'' (Third Growths) in the

Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines that were to be on display for visitors from ...

History

The first written reference to the domain of Giscours, a deed confirming the sale of the estate, dates from 1330 and refers to a fortified keep. Records of Giscours'

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...

s go back to 1552 when Seigneur de la Bastide sold it to Pierre de l'Horme. Prior to the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

Giscours belonged to the Saint-Simon family before it was confiscated, and then bought by two Americans in 1793, John Gray and Jonathan Davis of Boston. Several owners followed, and Giscours' great era began with the purchase of the property by the banker Count de Pescatore in 1845, who in 1847 hired Pierre Skawinski to manage his estate. Skawinski proved to be one of the great agriculturalists of Médoc in the 19th century, in 1860 the inventor of a plough which bears his name, and a pioneer in the fight against

mildew Mildew is a form of fungus. It is distinguished from its closely related counterpart, mould, largely by its colour: moulds appear in shades of black, blue, red, and green, whereas mildew is white. It appears as a thin, superficial growth consi ...

, he was instrumental in making Giscours one of the most reputable third growths. Skawinski managed the estate for 50 years, also during the following ownership by the Cruse family, the estate's most successful period. The family sold Giscours in 1913, and many difficult years followed. In 1954 the estate was purchased by Nicolas Tari, formerly a large-scale winemaker in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, who restored and enlarged the property, making it one of the most productive estates in the Médoc. In 1976, the then-owner of the château and President of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux,

Pierre Tari Pierre Tari was owner of Château Giscours and from 1975 to 1989 President of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, the organization of the wine classified in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. He served as an expert taster in the ...

, was selected as one of 11 judges to take part in the "Judgment of Paris"

wine competition A wine competition is an organized event in which trained judges or consumers competitively rate different vintages, categories, and/or brands of wine. Wine competitions generally use blind tasting of wine to prevent bias by the judges. Types of ...

. In 1995, Château Giscours' wine growing business activities were acquired by Eric Albada Jelgersma.

Production

From an estate of nearly 400 hectares, the Giscours planted vineyard area extends 80 hectares spread out over several plots. The composition of

grape varieties This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...

is 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot and the remainder Cabernet Franc and

Petit Verdot Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen it adds tannin, ...

. Of the ''Grand vin'' Chateau Giscours there is annually produced 25,000 cases, and of the

second wine Second wine or second label (French: ''Second vin'') is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from '' cuvee'' not selected for use in the ''Grand vin'' or first label. In some cases a third wine or ev ...

La Sirène de Giscours there is typically produced 10,000 cases. A 40 hectare plot of vines adjacent to Giscours outside the Margaux boundary is bottled as Le Haut Médoc de Giscours. Other wines produced by the estate include Château Dutheil and Château Houringe, both Haut-Médoc '' cru bourgeois'' properties, the former is vinified at Giscours, the latter is since 1982 operated on a lease.

Cricket

Château Giscours is the home ground of the Bordeaux Giscours Cricket Club, participants in the Aquitaine Division of the French National League and current National Champions.

References

External links

Château Giscours official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giscours, Chateau Bordeaux wine producers Châteaux in Gironde