Wine Words & Video Tape

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Bordeaux Primeurs 2022: Château Figeac

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

Wow! Château Figeac 2022 is a thrilling wine. The harvest was the earliest in one hundred years of ownership by the Manoncourt family. Director Fédéric Faye describes a growing season of considerable drought and early and long-lasting heat. This is, indeed, possibly the new normal for Bordeaux. Figeac is, nevertheless blessed with terrific terroir. While the famous gravel outcrops here are well-draining, the blue clay subsoil is water retentive. In addition, the vineyard teams did minimal soil work during the growing season, to preserve soil moisture, allowed inter-row plant cover, with no leaf removal and limited the topping of the vines as the season progressed. The early harvest was also taken with an eye to preserving the aromatic freshness and balance in the wines. The results are spectacular. Château Figeac 2022 must surely be one of the most exciting wines of this fascinating vintage. What a vintage to celebrate Figeac’s first year as a Premier Grand Cru Classé ‘A’. The only likely drawback I can see will be the release price [as yet unannounced]!

This is the second vintage that has been vinified in the impressive new gravity fed cellar. The renovation of the chais has also allowed for more plot by plot fermentations and greater precision in the vinification. It was my first visit to the property since 2019 and the new set up is very impressive indeed. The following notes were taken on Friday 21st April, 2023.

Château Figeac, St Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé ‘A’, 2022

Deep and dark; colour tight up to the rim; legs; attractive looking; spices and a beautifully cool seam of blackcurrant and black cherry fruit; sublime and deep; layer upon layer to the aromatics; really classy on the palate; caressing yet plenty of matter and extract; terrific length; ripe tannin with saline notes and graphite on the finish. Remarkable. Follows a string of great wines here in the past decade.  [35% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Franc, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, pH 3.7, 14% alc, 100% new oak]. Drink 2030-2065. 99-100/100

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