Chateau Giscours History

Chateau Giscours was first written about in 1330. At the time, it was listed on historical records as a fortified property. The first reference to Giscours for making Bordeaux wine dates back to 1552. Skipping ahead to slightly more modern times, before the start of the French Revolution, Chateau Giscours belonged to the Saint-Simon family.

It was confiscated during the revolution and was resold in 1793 to two Americans from Boston, John Gray and Jonathan Davis. After that, a myriad of owners took over ownership and management of Chateau Giscours until it was bought in 1845 by Count de Pescatore. Two years later, he hired a new manager for their Bordeaux property, Pierre Skawinski.

Interestingly, de Pescatore got lucky with Skawinski who later became one of the most respected agriculturalists of the time in Margaux as well as in all of Bordeaux. Some of Skawinski contributions include the invention of a type of plow in 1860 which still bears his name.