CHÂTEAU FIGEAC

The 2020 Figeac was bottled in mid-July. It has an exquisite bouquet that unfolds effortlessly in the glass with blackberry, crushed stone, graphite and fresh fig scents. It blossoms with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly edgy tannins on the entry that frame the pure black fruit. It's very harmonious and silky smooth in texture that almost disguises what Frédéric Faye terms the "verticality" of the wine. Fresh and saline on the finish with just a light black pepper touch on the aftertaste. An absolute treat. Drinking range: 2030 - 2065 Rating: 97 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)

A broad-shouldered wine that captures the vintage's heat well in a core of cassis and blackberry fruit flavors, which are dotted with lively savory, tobacco leaf and warm earth accents. Reveals a tarry, grippy edge as well as polish as this pulls deeply from its terroir, leaving an echo of warm paving stone at the very end. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2030 through 2040. —J.M. Drinking range: 2030 - 2040 Rating: 96 The Wine Spectator, www.winespectator.com (Dec 2022)

A super-classic wine, the 2020 Figeac sizzles with vertical energy. The château has made a number of tremendous wines in recent vintages, but I don't remember a Figeac with this much saline-drenched intensity and mineral drive. The 2020 is superb, but it won't be ready to drink anytime soon. The mixture of soil types and varieties, with the high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon, that is such a signature here, was a huge help in maintaining balance and energy in the wine. Technical Director Frédéric Faye certainly seems to have gotten the most out of the vintage. Drinking range: 2035 - 2060 Rating: 95-97 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jun 2021)

The 2020 Figeac was picked from September 4 to October 1 and underwent vinification free of SO2. Deep purple in color, it is initially backward and sultry on the nose, necessitating 60 minutes before it really opens. It then reveals intense scents of cranberry, raspberry and touches of cassis intermingling with white pepper. Given that the Cabernets comprise 63% of the blend, this has a typical Left Bank personality but with Right Bank precocity. The palate conveys a sense of vibrancy and vigor on the entry, a dash of black pepper and allspice mingling with the mélange of red and black fruit. The tannins are satin-like in texture, and there’s dark berry fruit and hints of pencil lead and black truffle shavings toward the Pomerol-like finish. This is a magnificent Figeac from head winemaker Frédéric Faye and his team. This sample really came into its own 2–3 hours after opening. Drinking range: 2030 - 2065 Rating: 96-98 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)

I loved the 2020 Château Figeac, and this beauty offers everything you could want from this site, revealing a dense purple/ruby color to go with gorgeous notes of cassis, tobacco, sappy herbs, and spring flowers as well as an almost Pauillac lead pencil note that develops with time in the glass. A blend of 37% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Franc, and 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, it's full-bodied and has perfect balance, ultra-fine tannins, and a great, great finish. It brings ample power yet has a weightless elegance and riveting precision reminiscent of the 2016. Don't miss it. Rating: 96-98 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2021)

2020 Figeac is a tour de force. Every possible variable is considered at this historic estate and the results of the painstaking work, coupled with the innate skill and experience of the team, is evident in this wine. They employed horses to plough during the heavy rains at the beginning of the year rather than tractors, which would have struggled while also compacting the soil unnecessarily. Conversely in the summer, they ploughed their cover crops in extremely gently, so as not to kick up dust. They used judicious green harvesting on younger plots while keeping an extremely close eye on each of their three varieties because they are all essential to make Figeac its own unique proposition. While this is essentially a gravelly estate, with 4-5m depth in most areas, the blue clay beneath this layer of gravel ensured that there was no undue stress on the vines during the hot summer. A touch of rain at the beginning of September completed the picture and they harvested at a leisurely pace over four weeks. Freshness in early picks of Merlot was balanced when the older vines came in and bolstered these notes with extra levels of texture and tannins. Cabernet Franc was on stunning form in 2020 making up spiciness and glorious aromatic notes of violets and exotic tea leaves. The Cabernet Sauvignon berries were tiny in 2020 and so extra gentle handling was needed to extract the luxurious fruit notes but no astringency to upset the hard work that the viti-team put in over this testing year. Figeac works very closely with their coopers to build bespoke woodwork for this estate and Frédéric Faye told me that they have a 35-page instruction document for their barrel-makers so that they are guaranteed the very finest and most suitable barrels imaginable. The sample I tasted was a ‘finished wine’ with 7% press wine already added and so it was possible for me to see deep into its soul allowing me to fully appreciate the incredible tri-varietal balance achieved here. This is a highly sophisticated Right Bank wine with hints of Left Bank grandeur and discipline and it is, most definitely, a style of its own. The Cabernets seem to sandwich the Merlot with Franc providing the aroma, Merlot the heart, and Cabernet Sauvignon the impeccable finish. This is an astoundingly serious wine with so much detail coupled to so much delicacy and restraint it is incredible. I find the tannins unique at Figeac, and in 2020, they have never been fitter, nor more resplendent and they will power this wine for decades to come. While I have not as much experience of this Château as I would like, I can definitely say that this is the finest Figeac I have tasted and it has a spectacular future ahead of it. Rating: 19+/20 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (May 2021)

This delivers concentration and intensity, a ton of black fruits, definitely Cabernet dominant in terms of fruit, and its slightly serious character, with a whoosh of juice on the finish. An extremely elegant and controlled wine, with savoury bilberry and loganberry, then peony and tobacco leaf as it opens. Tannins are finely layered but there are a lot of them. Not an exuberant Figeac, but this is rarely a wine that rushes out to seduce, it takes its time and has ageing potential in spades. The gravel soils in the drought of the summer meant the grapes slowed their ripening process, although only the youngest vines suffered blockages, and that combined with the high Cabernet content of Figeac means lower alcohols than the past few years, giving a classic balance and a feeling of effortless success. 75% of the production went into the first wine. Harvest September 4 to October 1, a full five weeks. Their final yield here was around 37hl/ha, (higher than in 2019 at Figeac, which was 34hl/ha). As with on the Left Bank, the Cabernet Sauvignons were the lowest yield (30hl/ha), with tiny berries so had to be careful with the extraction. First vintage in the new cellars. Drinking range: 2029 - 2046 Rating: 96 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)