Margaux Third Growth Giscours is an older estate than most. It is referenced as a fortified property in a 1330 document, and recorded as making wine in 1552. It was confiscated from its aristocratic owners in the French Revolution, and re-sold, initially to two Americans from Boston. A long list of other owners followed. The most notable nineteenth century name here was not an owner at all, but Estate Manager Pierre Skawinski, one of the great agricultural innovators of his day. He came up with the then-radical, now ubiquitous idea that grapes and liquid in a winery cellar should be moved by gravity. He also developed a new form of plough, and was a vital innovator in the unfolding fight against the then-new American import, downy mildew. In 1855, Giscours achieved Third Growth status, and it must have seemed like one of the settled great estates.

But the wheel of fortune turned, and Giscours entered a period of long, inexorable decline. The estate comprised 240 hectares at the end of the nineteenth century, but by 1958, when it was bought by wine merchant Pierre Tari, it had dropped to a mere 7. Pierre and his son (also Pierre) did a lot to rescue the dire condition Giscours found itself in, and it was in far better condition by the time it was sold on to Dutch entrepreneur Eric Albada-Jelgersma in 1995. This was not a trouble-free transition, with legal squabbles between the Taris and the Albada-Jelgersma family dragging on until 2023. And the name of the chateau was very publicly besmirched in 1998, when it was accused of breaking appellation law by doctoring the blend of the second wine, Sirene de Giscours. The Estate Director attempted to justify what he had done by insisting lots of people did the same. He was fired.

Alexander van Beek arrived in 1995, intending only to work a harvest, but has stayed on ever since, and as Managing Director he is very much the current public face of the chateau. He has completely overhauled the vineyards, starting with an intensive terroir study. He used the results of that study to inform a vast replanting programme, replacing 130,000 vines, increasing the planting density to 8,000 vines per hectare (which forces the vines to compete more with each other), and dramatically changing the composition by grape variety of the vineyards. Previously, the vineyards had been 60% Merlot, but the terroir study had revealed the vineyards lay on mostly homogenous gravel soils. As a result, they have replanted to now have 65% Cabernet Sauvignon/30% Merlot/3 Petit Verdot/2% Cabernet Franc. The result is that Giscours is now a much more sleek, powerful wine. The next step is biodynamic viticulture, which is slowly being rolled out across the estate.

As well as the Margaux vineyards that make Giscours, the chateau also owns a contiguous section of vines over the appellation border in the Haut-Medoc, which are used to make a wine called Le Haut-Medoc de Giscours. The chateau also owns some beautiful parkland, and hosts cricket and polo matches. (NT 13/08/25)