2022 Château Giscours | DMG

The 2022 Giscours is a brilliant wine. It has a cornucopia of aromas on the nose that has the audacity to shade both the 2019 and 2020: blackberry, blueberry, crushed stone, violet and peony, all blossoming with aeration. The palate is supremely well balanced with enormous substance and grip, powerful and maybe not quite as satin-like in texture as it showed in barrel. Very mineral-driven and quite structured, this 2022 demands long-term cellaring.

- Neal Martin (10/2024)

The 2022 Giscours has realized all the potential it showed en primeur, wafting from the glass with a deep bouquet of sweet berries, mint, rose petals and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, it's textural and enveloping, built around lively acids and sweet powdery tannins, concluding with a long, resonant finish. As I pondered two years ago, why is the 2022 so good? There are many reasons, but one is the high proportion of old vines—almost 60% of the blend derives from vines that are over 50 years old—in a vintage that favored vines with deep, well-established root systems. Another is the increasing precision of harvesting at this address: Giscours's old vines are frequently co-planted with younger replacements that have filled any gaps in the ranks over the years; so, blocks are now picked in two or three passages instead of all at once, with the younger vines picked first. The team also adapted hedging practices to limit hydric stress, which helps to explain the sweetness of the tannins.

- William Kelley (03/2025)