1865
Giscours

BY NEAL MARTIN&nbsp;|&nbsp;AUGUST 07, 2023I&nbsp;don’t
know the record for the oldest bottle in Cellar Favorites, but this must be a
contender. It certainly ranks as one of the oldest bottles of Claret that I
have drunk, and I should point out that it was drunk, not tasted. This
note is parsed from a forthcoming article recounting the bottles that
accompanied a series of dinners celebrating the publication of my book. Since
it is so unique in terms of maturity, I felt it deserved time in the spotlight
as a Cellar Favorite, notwithstanding that I could delve a little deeper into its
background. The bottle was served blind, hence the palpable anticipation as the
sommelier poured the mysterious wine for about&nbsp;a dozen guests.

This
bottle predates phylloxera, which reared its ugly head in Bordeaux around 1878,
so the vines were planted on their roots instead of grafted onto American
rootstock. The 1865 vintage is esteemed as one of the pinnacles of the 19th
century. Michael Broadbent advises in his Vintage Wine tome that it was
an abundant crop picked early from September 6 and that the wines immediately
achieved high prices. However, André Simon is more lukewarm in reception,
describing it as “quite a good vintage.” In his book, Vintagewise, he
opines: “The 1865s never came up to the standard of the 1864s, and Professor
George Saintsbury ignores them completely, but there were some most delightful 1865s
which lasted remarkably well.” This is only the second bottle I have
encountered from this fabled vintage. An 1865 First Growth, tasted eons ago,
will feature in an article later this year (and it wasn’t even the oldest
vintage).<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1691164709264-giscours+1865.jpg">Giscours’
owner at that time is rather complex. Jean-Pierre Pescatore, a Luxembourg-born
businessman whose family made its fortune importing tobacco, bought the estate
in 1847. In 1855, Pescatore left an estimated fortune of 15 million Francs that
became the subject of an inheritance dispute. As that trundled on, fortunately,
he had hired renowned Polish régisseur Pierre Skawinski who ensured the
winemaking did not suffer during this unsettled period. This bottle had been
reconditioned at the estate in 2003, which vouchsafed its authenticity. 

At
first, the 1865 Giscours has noticeable volatility on the nose, quite
spirituous, yet it coheres and manifests precocious red fruit laced with blood
orange and fresh fig that defy antiquity. Ultimately, it ends up pure and
alluring, not powerful but with ineffable transparency. The palate has a
remarkable sweet core of red fruit and seamless tannins. It’s a Margaux
befitting one of the great vintages of the 19th century. Lightly spiced on the elegant
finish, it remarkably articulates the Margaux appellation even after all this
time. My inclination is that this bottle was likely to have been topped up with
a younger Giscours at the time of reconditioning, yet it remains a remarkable
time-defying Margaux. 95/Drink 2023-2033.© 2023, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

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