The people of Giscours

1/ What is your role at Giscours and how long have you been working there?

I arrived at Giscours in April 2002 and I am the Sales Director.
Twenty years at Giscours that have gone by in the blink of an eye!
There is no routine, every day brings something new, and that is what I am truly passionate about.

2/ Where at Giscours do you work most often?

I travel a lot for the estate (to Europe, Asia and so on). When I am at the estate, I welcome merchants, brokers and professional clients to the tasting room, where together we can explore the estate’s most recent vintages and talk about the global distribution of our wines. I might even host them for lunch or dinner with a menu created by our chef Benjamin, who also works on the food and wine pairings.
But of course, my ‘strategic’ home is my office, where I am in direct contact with La Place de Bordeaux.

3/ What moment in Giscours life is the most significant for you?

The estate is huge, and I feel at home everywhere at Giscours. Over the years, the estate has been able to retain its authenticity and has never been corrupted. That is its greatest strength. The buildings are imbued with history, which becomes clear the moment you arrive at Giscours for the first time. Even today, as I head up the driveway leading to the chateau in the morning, I take a fresh look at the huge building that manages to be both impressive yet, ultimately, cosy. The barrel stores that have been home to so many vintages. Suzanne Farm is open to guests, and the park offers an opportunity for a stroll in a timeless setting.

1/ What is your role at Giscours and how long have you been working there?

Hello, my name is Michaël Sanders and I am responsible for wine tourism.
My role is to showcase the estate and its terroir via our tours, tastings and various events. I also look after the Giscours shop and welcome private and professional visitors.
I spent ten years at Giscours, then moved to a wine merchant for three years to gain specialist experience before returning to my roots in September 2022.

2/ Where at Giscours do you work most often?

I move between the barrel stores, chateau, tasting room and shop.

3/ What moment in Giscours life is the most significant for you?

I love the night-time atmosphere at Giscours, particularly when the chateau is hosting dinners.

How would you describe Giscours?

Derk
I think Giscours is like a small village where people and nature live in harmony. Giscours is changing, and will evolve in the future. Our objective is to focus even more on the synergy of the ecoculture and biodiversity of our “farm”.

What is your favourite place in Giscours?

Dennis
My Favorite place at Giscours is the new park, where we have worked very hard to open the forest, to emphasize the beautiful trees, and to create an atmosphere where nature, culture and wine all come together.

Valerie
I love the nature around Giscours. In the past, we used to walk from Chateau Du Tertre to Chateau Giscours through the vineyards. And partly through the Forest. It’s a very peaceful and beautiful walk.

1/ What is your role at Giscours and how long have you been working there?

My name is Nadine Geffié and I have worked at Giscours since 2005. I started as a sales assistant, a post I held until 2011, before becoming Logistics Manager.

2/ Where at Giscours do you work most often?

My office is in the Giscours warehouses, on the Croix Neuve site. It is only a few hundred metres as the crow flies from the Château, which I can see from my window!

3/ What moment in Giscours life is the most significant for you?

What I like about it here is the hustle and bustle, with carriers, brokers and staff coming and going every day. There is always something to do. Our teams work in harmony with each other and take great care in dressing our bottles.
Thousands of bottles of our Great Wines and different vintages are stored here and it is our responsibility to ensure they are delivered on time.
Although the logistics site is separated from the Château, the place is steeped in the culture of Giscours.

1/ What is your role at Giscours and how long have you been working there?

I am Alexander van Beek – General Manager of Giscours.
I arrived at Giscours in 1995 at the age of 24 for a few weeks of harvesting, and I never left! Eric Albada Jelgersma made me the director of S.E Château Giscours in 1995.

2/ Where at Giscours do you work most often?

The offices at Giscours are in the old stables. I taste regularly, either with the Giscours technical team in the large tasting room, or with other professionals in the Château. Depending on the time of year, I spend time in the winery or the vineyards – it depends on the season. No two days at Giscours are the same. I also travel within France and abroad to represent Giscours at various events.

3/ What moment in Giscours life is the most significant for you?

I like the buzz when the harvests are getting started. After a year of working on the vines, it is a key moment in the creation of a new vintage. We are focusing all our efforts on the same goal: creating a fine wine.

1/ What is your role at Giscours and how long have you been working there?

My name is Marc Verpaalen and I have been the Director of Hospitality and Events since 2005.

2/ Where at Giscours do you work most often?

The best thing about my job is the fact that my workplace varies depending on what I am doing. Our aim is to welcome people and introduce them to Giscours, which is much more than just a wine estate.
I split my working time between Suzanne Farm, the Château, the shop, the guest rooms, the office and the park.

3/ What moment in Giscours life is the most significant for you?

To me, the most significant time is the excitement surrounding events. There are a thousand and one ways of showcasing Giscours and its wines via an event. A generous welcome is of course key, with the vital tools being wine and gastronomy, music, sport and culture, and of course the estate’s natural environment.
We are fortunate to have access to Giscours’s park and forest. I take full advantage of this during my daily walk after lunch. This allows me to combine business with pleasure. You can see that one spot or another needs some care and attention, discover flora or fauna, and at the same time recharge your batteries and gain inspiration. This calm, a total contrast to the activity of events like two opposing but complementary forces, can be found in the vine cycle and in life at Giscours.

1/ What is your role at Giscours and how long have you been working there?

Didier
I am Didier Foret, Technical Director since 2008 (trained in oenology at ISVV, Dijon).
First of all I was Quality Manager at Giscours from 1999 to 2001, then Deputy Operations Director from 2001 to 2007.

Jérôme
My name is Jérôme Poisson and I have been Technical Manager since January 2021.

2/ Where at Giscours do you work most often?

Didier
I am very fortunate in that I do not have a set place of work. My work consists of moving through the different areas of the estate, understanding that every single stone is part of the process of making a fine wine.

Jérôme
My office is in the Old Stables with the other teams. However, I gravitate between the vines, cellars and other parts of the estate.

3/ What moment in Giscours life is the most significant for you?

Didier
Among the vines, I like watching the sun rise during the heart of ‘growing season’ in June for the serenity and beauty of the colours – and conversely, I like harvest mornings for the hubbub of activity (around 250 people on site).
In the winery, winemaking time of course for the transformation, genesis and culmination of 12 months of effort in the vineyards, but also the decanting of blends for its monastic precision work and calm.

Jérôme
My morning coffee, with views of the vines and one of the historic Giscours plots. The light is magnificent. It is also an opportunity to chat with my office colleagues and the technical team.
I also particularly enjoy tasting sessions in the big hall in the old stables.

1/ What is your role at Giscours and how long have you been working there?

I am Benjamin Laurent and I have been Head Chef at Giscours since 2019.

2/ Where at Giscours do you work most often?

As a chef, my place is of course in the kitchen. I am fortunate enough to work within the Château itself every day!

3/ What moment in Giscours life is the most significant for you?

From my perspective, the most significant time at the Château is the morning: seeing everyone (Céline and Anne cleaning and creating floral decorations, Lionel our maître d', and all the reception staff) working to bring the place to life, so that it can ‘awaken’ and prepare to welcome guests for lunch or dinner.

1/ What is your role at Giscours and how long have you been working there?

Séverine
My name is Séverine Bouchet and I am a cellar worker. I started at Giscours in 1990, when I was a pre-apprentice groom in the Giscours stables. I wanted that to be my career. Unfortunately, after numerous asthma attacks, we realised that I was allergic to straw, dust and hay. This forced me to change tack, so I began an apprenticeship in winegrowing and winemaking. I spent a whole year in the vineyard and another in the winery. And I never looked back!

Denis
I am Denis Uteau, Giscours Cellar Master since 2008. I arrived here in 2000 as a tractor driver, but it was not for me! I started as a worker in the winery in January 2001.

2/ Where at Giscours do you work most often?

We both work in the Giscours winery.

3/ What moment in Giscours life is the most significant for you?

Séverine
The moments I love are the harvests and the running off, and the work on the barrels in the winter.

Denis
My favourite seasons are the harvest, the running off – it is long and gruelling, but thrilling to create a new vintage that the vineyard workers have been preparing since the previous winter – and the tastings, moments of calm and concentration when we are lucky enough to be able to taste such wines.

1/ What is your role at Giscours and how long have you been working there?

My name is Ahmed Jaayjaa and I have been working at Giscours as a winemaker since 1978. As well as this role, I also look after the Giscours vegetable garden.
Before, there were allotments here, and I had a little garden. As the years passed, the allotments were abandoned, but I kept mine. In 2019, I suggested working with chef Benjamin to create a vegetable garden that could supply fresh produce to the kitchen.

2/ Where at Giscours do you work most often?

My work as a winegrower all takes place among the vines, but the rest of the time you will find me in the vegetable garden! It is behind Suzanne Farm, opposite the Nursery building.

3/ What moment in Giscours life is the most significant for you?

I like the buzz when the harvests are getting started. After a year of working on the vines, it is a key moment in the creation of a new vintage. We are focusing all our efforts on the same goal: creating a fine wine.

1/ What is your role at Giscours and how long have you been working there?

My name is Lionel Aznar, I joined Giscours in November 2002 as Cellar Master before taking on the role of Head of Winegrowing, which I have held since 2008.

2/ Where at Giscours do you work most often?

Most of my work is in the vineyards.

3/ What moment in Giscours life is the most significant for you?

My favourite periods are pruning, the time when we start shaping the new harvest, and the harvest time itself when the fruit of our labours is safely brought in.