Château Giscours
The Château Giscours is one of the famous vineyards of Bordeaux. Since the classification of 1855, the winery is classified as Troisieme Grand Cru Classé, the third- highest level of classification.
The estate is located in the Margaux wine region, southwest of the village Labarde.
The wine of Giscours is quite well known as the Good is large with approximately 80.5 hectares under vine. 53 percent of the area is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and 42 percent Merlot. The remaining 5 percent are divided between the varieties Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The planting density is high 10,000 sticks per hectare and nearly a quarter of the vines is over 40 years old. The estate itself is far greater; it comprises a land of nearly 400 acres. The farm produces about 300,000 bottles of wine in middle age. Among the younger age groups especially the wine from 2000 did show that is rated 92 Parker points.
After maceration, the wines are about 18 months in barrique. Since the early 1990s, the malolactic fermentation is carried out in a wooden barrel.
The second wine of Château Giscours called La Sirene de Giscours.
History of the estate
The first mention of Château Giscours goes back to a time around the year 1330. In the documents there is talk of a fortified donjon. On November 19, 1552, the property changed hands for £ 1,000; from the records of the sale show that at Château Giscours at that time viticulture was operated. Seller was Gabriel Giraud; as the new owner Pierre L' Homme occurred. Narrated is that the Sun King Louis XIV estimated the wine of the estate.
In 1789, the year of the French Revolution Château Giscours belonged to Saint- Simon family. The family property was confiscated and as common property ( "Bien National " ) declared.
After a long series of owners such as Michel Jacob of Parisian banker Comte de Pescatore bought the property in 1847 and had built the still existing Château. The aim of the Comte was to receive Eugénie de Montijo there.
On the occasion of the World Exhibition of 1855 Château Giscours was classified as Troisième Grand Cru Classé.
In the aftermath of the total vineyard of Bordeaux plunged into a deep crisis. The trigger was the infestation of phylloxera and the occurrence of, introduced from North America fungal diseases powdery mildew and downy mildew of grapevine. Château Giscours too was not spared. There followed a period in which the estate changed ownership several times. However, it was no one to run the winery from its deep crisis.
In 1952, took over the family Tari, who had earned in Algeria (viticulture in Algeria), a considerable fortune with the wine, the Château. Nicolas Tari first invested in the fabric of the main building and had to create an artificial lake. This lake is a lasting influence on the microclimate. After these investments, he turned to the new system of vineyards and renovated the wine cellar. In addition, Tari lived the high life and sponsored a polo team. In 1970, took over Pierre Tari, the son of Nicolas, the leadership of the House. In 1976, Pierre Tari was a member of the wine jury of Paris.
He continued the quality efforts of his father, but had to pay tribute, and sell the goods to the high investment and high standard of living at the beginning of the 1990s. As a buyer, the Dutch businessman Eric Albada Jelgersma occurred, the Château du Tertre also belongs.
The cost of Jelgersma was not without controversy. In a series of court cases he complained only towards the Tari family since the sale in 1990 apparently were not clear. The Tari family claimed that Albada Jelgersma 've only purchased the vineyard and the cellar, but that the building would continue to be the property of Taris. In addition, Tari said to have enriched on unauthorized manner prior to its sale with company capital.
In 1998, finally, the scandal Giscours was uncovered. To have been used in the expansion of illegal viticulture practices such as unauthorized sugar to the Mostss and the unfair use of oak chips out of the house Demptos Especially with the vintages 1995 and 1996. Even if it turned out that especially the second wine was affected by the illegal practices, the damage was significant.
Jelgersma, who was apparently unaware of the processes on Giscours, exchanged a majority of the team, including the well-known oenologist Jean -Michel Ferrandez site. Today, the Dutchman Alexander van Beek led both Giscours as well as on the neighboring Château du Tertre business. Van Beek 's wife Véronique Sanders directs the daily operations at Château Haut- Bailly Pessac -Leognan.