2014 - Giscours, Margaux

Firm tannins still as it hits the 10 year mark, with beautiful depths to the espresso and cocoa bean accents, along with blubeberry and cassis fruits, all wrapped up in silky tannins. Great quality and balance. Harvest September 22 to October 16. 50% new oak. Denis Dubourdieu consultant, Didier Forêt technical director.

The 2014 Giscours has come on leaps and bounds since I tasted it twice in barrel. It is clearly more sophisticated and complex than the du Tertre on the nose. For a start, there is more fruit concentration with red cherries, raspberry and blackcurrant laced with cedar and graphite. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, pure red cherry and crushed strawberry fruit with a precise finish that the property never used to be able to offer. This is a lovely Margaux that should drink well for 20 years.

The 2014 Giscours has a superior bouquet to the bottle that I encountered at the Southwold Ten-Year-On tasting, with light black fruit and forest floor, but there is a touch of Brettanomyces here that just shaves away some of the wine's delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with a fleshy opening, notes of mocha and leather-tinged red fruit, turning slightly minty towards the finish. Unfortunately, the 2014 has never recaptured the elan it showed in its youth. This is a vintage that could have been better.

Tasted blind. Dark and youthful colour. Open and leafily scented. Tannins are dry and still refined. Could do with a little more fruit at the core. (JH)