Tasted at the Château Giscours vertical, the 2004 Château Giscours is a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon and 42% Merlot picked between September 30 and October 16. It has a very pleasant bouquet with ripe blackcurrant, raspberry coulis, mineral and light violet scents that blossom nicely in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin. This is not a complex Giscours, more conservative and a little austere. Yet you have to commend the freshness and the finesse towards the finish, as it delivers delicate tarry notes on the aftertaste. Drinking perfectly now, you could cellar this for the next 10-15 years. Tasted June 2015. - robertparker.com, July 2015

60% cabernet sauvignon and 40% merlot; 29.3 g/l dry extract; 13.2% alcohol): Dark ruby with purple highlights. Lively aromas and flavors of cassis, violet, cedar and minerals. Then fresh, suave and balanced, offering good balance but only average intensity. Finishes suave and clean, with persistent floral and licorice notes. A rather stylish wine and yet another testimony to just how well the 2004 Bordeaux are drinking currently. Interestingly, in yet another demonstration of how laboratory data alone isn't sufficient to evaluate wines, some of the technical parameters of the 2004 Giscours are very similar to those of the 2001, yet the two wines couldn't be more different.

Saturated medium ruby. Blackberry, bitter chocolate and nutty oak on the nose; seems rather heavily extracted. Fat, chewy and sweet, with a slightly chunky medicinal black cherry flavor. Finishes with big, broad, granular tannins. A big boy for the vintage, but in an extractive style. (The sample I tasted in the spring of 2005 seemed much finer.)