A ripe and layered red with lots of currant and chocolate character, as well as some walnut and cocoa powder. It’s full and layered with round tannins and a juicy and plush texture. Plenty going on here. Give it three to four years to come together. A blend of 65% cabernet sauvignon and 35% merlot. Try after 2024.

The 2019 Giscours has turned out very well in bottle, wafting from the glass with aromas of sweet berries, cherries, burning embers, lilac and violets framed by a discreet patina of new oak. Full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it's polished and perfumed, with a velvety, seamless profile and bright animating acids, concluding with a long, resonant finish. Alexandre Van Beek and his team are taking this estate to heights it hasn't hit since the 1970s, and this is another of the great bargains of the 2019 en primeur campaign.

The 2019 Giscours has certainly calmed down since its bravura performance from barrel, now more streamlined and focused, albeit retaining that black and blue fruit interlaced with pressed violet. The harmonious palate is very finely tuned and beautifully structured, with a touch of salinity. This is one of the more precise Giscours in recent years, perhaps partly due to consultant Thomas Duclos, who began working with the estate in 2018 (he was actually born nearby). This reminds me of some of the classic Giscours such as the 1966 or the 1970. It may even merit a higher score with bottle age.

''Quite simply, Giscours is magnificent in 2019, and also one of the rising stars of Margaux today. Pliant, supple and creamy, the 2019 races out of the glass with striking dimension. Ripe red cherry, red plum, blood orange, spice and new leather all flesh out in a radiant, finessed Giscours that hits all the right notes. The 2019 is fabulous - that's all there is to it.'' June 2020

“Based on 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot, the 2019 Château Giscours is another stunning 2019. Deep purple, with a fresh yet concentrated style on the palate, it has lots of red, black, and blue fruits as well as notes of sandalwood, flowery incense, and graphite. It's not massive, by any means, yet is flawlessly balanced and has integrated acidity, followed by a great finish. It's very much in the more precise, pretty, elegant style of this vintage yet still packs plenty of mid-palate depth. Give bottles 4-5 years of bottle age and enjoy over the following 25 years or so.” June 2020

Tasted blind. Proper, complex, deep-flavoured nose. Lots of tannin in the background to some pretty ambitious, dense fruit. Very long. A real 2019. (It always shows well blind!) (JR)

65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot. Barrel sample. Quite an elegant wine. Dark fruited and minerally fresh with the tannins finely honed. A touch of oak spice on attack then smooth, linear, juicy and refreshing. Certainly understated. (JL)