Tasting Notes
Decanter 97
One of my absolute favourite wines in 2021 with Figeac’s star power clearly on show. Amazing aromatic complexity on the nose; dark chocolate with perfume from the Cabernet Franc – pink flowers, red cherry touches vanilla and cinnamon – such a seductive smell. Pure and focused – so smooth and sleek with a clear tang to the palate. Quite taut, so defined and pure. The minerality comes through the sweet strawberry and raspberry fruit giving that chalky, salty flavour and texture on the palate. Everything is precise and in the right place. You can tell this is ripe, the concentration is there in the fruit, alongside such bright freshness but also these fun and playful red fruit flavours with lively acidity. Classic Bordeaux style with vibrancy, clarity and harmony – you feel the St-Emilion terroir and the understated glamour. This is an epic wine, a brilliant Figeac and contender for wine of the Right Bank. 100% new oak. 3.65pH.
Anticipated maturity: 2028-2050
Jane Anson 97
Lovely aromatics right off the bat, good spice, white peppers, touches of savoury cassis. This 71% mix of the two Cabernets is the highest ever at Figeac, and you feel it in this savoury, rosebud, leafy character to the palate, brilliantly handled and one of the wines of the vintage. This delivers careful balance, sculpted fruits, with a juicy finish. 100% new oak. Romain Jean-Pierre technical director. 38hl/h yield, harvest September 21 to October 19 (with a three week gap between Merlot and Cabernet). 3.65ph. First vintage with the new cellar. 70% production into Figeac, 8% press wine. Tasted twice, excellent quality.
Anticipated maturity: 2028-2044
Jeb Dunnuck 95-97
Unquestionably one of the wines of the vintage on the Right Bank, the 2021 Chateau Figeac checks in as 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Cabernet Franc, and 29% Merlot, brought up all in new barrels. It’s a gorgeous, medium to full-bodied, concentrated, and textured 2019 with remarkable purity in its darker cassis and fresh plum fruits as well as notes of tobacco, truffly earth, cedar pencil, and spice. While it’s easy to compare this to wines from the Medoc given its high Cabernet content, it has beautiful Right Bank character and is a classic, balanced, incredibly impressive Figeac that will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and cruise for over two decades. It reminds me slightly of the 2014.
Vinous 95-97
The 2021 Figeac was picked from September 21 until October 19 and matured, as usual, in 100% new oak. It has a very pure, elegant bouquet, the Cabernet Sauvignon imparting subtle pencil lead notes, blackberry and briar, almost understated at first but gaining vigor with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, a fine bead of acidity and just the right amount of sapidity. There is unerring symmetry about this Figeac, which is extremely focused yet unconcerned about showing off. There is lovely piquancy on the finish. Unequivocally one the finest Right Bank wines in 2021. Frederic Faye continues to guide Figeac to the pinnacle of the appellation. (13.0% alcohol)
Anticipated maturity: 2027-2060
Robert Parker 94-97
One of the highlights of the vintage on the Right Bank, the 2021 Figeac is a blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Cabernet Franc and 29% Merlot, and the fruit of a harvest that lasted a full month, from September 21 to October 19, with each parcel picked at optimal maturity. Offering up aromas of blackberries, cassis, rose petals, violets, cigar wrapper and sweet soil tones, it’s medium to full-bodied, supple and seamless, its velvety attack segueing into a deep, layered core of beautifully vibrant fruit, concluding with a long, saline finish. The first vintage vinified in Figeac’s new winery, it’s a resounding success for administrator Frederic Faye and his team.
The Wine Independent 94-96
The 2021 Figeac is a blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Cabernet Franc, and 29% Merlot, with the Merlot harvested from 21 September to 1 October. Deep garnet-purple colored, it slowly unfurls in the glass, releasing languid notions of redcurrants, black raspberries, and mulberries, followed by hints of iron ore, violets, star anise, and menthol with a hint of graphite. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegant with ripe, grainy Cabernet-led tannins, featuring great tension and lots of bright red fruit and mineral layers, finishing long and ferrous. pH 3.65.
Anticipated maturity: 2027-2050