Figeac 2015

A blend of 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, and 28% Cabernet Franc, the 2015 Figeac is deep garnet-purple colored. It sashays out with gregarious notes of plum preserves, blackcurrant cordial, and Indian spices, followed by hints of redcurrants, camphor, and dark chocolate with a waft of violets. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is rich and seductive with superbly ripe, fine-grained tannins and well-knit freshness, finishing long and perfumed. Irresistible to drink right now (with a good decant), it will easily give another 25-years+ of pleasure.

Tasted blind. Rather overblown on the nose. Thick and a little sturdy with lots of chewy tannin. Very youthful, very ambitious.Drink 2026-2044

The nose has fragrant spicy charm the palate an intensity of flavour. Rich and ripe in the middle sweet fruit silky the fruit is supported by fine tannins. Lighter at the back a mix of red and black fruits tobacco and spice the finish is long streamlined precise. 2024-40

This has the second highest ever percentage of Cabernet Franc, as well as its customary backbone of Cabernet Sauvignon, giving the wine a freshness, perfume and structure that some St. Emilions lack in 2015. Plush, concentrated and built to age, with very fine tannins, classy oak and impressive length. Drink: 2022-40

Sweet ripe berry fruits on the nose, depth of flavour, precision and clarity that last from the first to the last moment of this wine. Clear cocoa bean, espresso, chocolate, but also concentrated bilberry, blackberry and raspberry. The tannins are slate-strewn, textured, adding persistency and mouthwatering salinity to the palate. This is a brilliant Figeac, and ones that lovers of this wine should absolutely not miss. Harvest September 21 to October 15, 100% new oak for ageing.

Tasted by Jane Anson(at Château Belgrave, 09 Dec 2017)Part of Bordeaux Right Bank 2015 in bottle: Top scorersFrom the very first sip you see why certain wines just have a hold on the imagination. This has the full intensity of St-Émilion with none of the need to shout about it or push its point home. It's just effortlessly intense and confident, with flavours of liquorice, pencil shavings, damson and cassis. It has wonderful freshness and balance, and full grip from firm tannins. Complex and persistent, this is an absolute joy to taste. 100% new oak.Drinking Window 2023 - 2042

The 2015 Figeac has a wonderful bouquet with pure blackberry, raspberry and mineral aromas, very focused and precise with discreet earthy scents emerging with time. The palate is very precise with crisp acidity, taut and linear with a very detailed and persistent finish. This is quintessential Figeac trying to steal some of the glory from the imperious 2016! It needs time but just wait until this blossoms. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.

The 2015 Figeac is a blend of 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and 28% Cabernet Franc and showed impressively from barrel, the best vintage until the nascent 2016 trotted along. That subsequent vintage should not steal the thunder of the 2015. It has a captivating, very pure and refined bouquet with blackberry, bilberry, graphite and subtle violet scents (the cassis note appears to have dissipated during the élevage). The palate is medium-bodied with very fine, slightly chalky tannin matched with nigh-on perfect acidity. This feels so harmonious and so terroir-driven, exactly as I hoped for when tasting this en primeur. It is going to be a legendary wine for this historic estate and I sincerely hope you have a few bottles nestling in your cellar. Give it 8 to 10 years in bottle. Anticipated maturity: 2023 - 2050.

The 2015 Figeac is a blend of 29% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Franc and 43% Cabernet Sauvignon that was picked from 21 September with the Merlot until 15 October with the Cabernet Sauvignon at 41 hectoliters per hectare. The Cabernet comes through strongly on the nose - classic Figeac in many ways - black fruit, a touch of cassis, pencil and a touch of rose petal. The palate is drop-dead gorgeous, its foundation a lattice of filigree tannin and perfectly judged acidity. It is very fresh from its vivacious start to its pencil-lead finish imbued with effortless grace. It is almost comical that naysayers decried that Michel Rolland would turn Figeac into some kind of fruit bomb. Head winemaker Frédéric Faye has overseen a tip-top classic Figeac without any of the greenness that occasionally affected older vintages, now boasting a level of precision up there with the very best in the Right Bank. It was difficult to find fault with this quite astonishing Saint Emilion and who knows what could transpire once it is in bottle. Drink 2022-2055

This is the most structured Figeac in modern times. I tasted wines from this estate from the 1920s and 1910s but this is something. Full and powerful. Pure and focused. Extracted cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc.

The recent leaps and bounds in improvements that have occurred at this great estate, equating to a dramatic increase in intensity and complexity—without compromising the husky, soft-spoken, sultry voice that is Figeac—is a monumental achievement. Kudos to Frederic Faye and his team for so beautifully expressing what was clearly an extraordinary vintage at Chateau Figeac! Blended of 29% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon and 28% Cabernet Franc, the deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Figeac reveals vibrant black cherries, cassis, red currants, black plums and licorice notes with touches of cigar boxes, bouquet garni, potpourri, damp soil and black pepper. Medium-bodied, delicately crafted and with nuanced, quietly intense layers of vivacious red and black fruits, the palate features a solid frame of polished, rounded tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and minerally. 2022 - 2047

Lovely combo of opulence and freshness. The Cabernet Sauvignon surely helps. Real drive and Figeac character. Real savour. Sappy. 14%. Drink 2025-2045