Château Figeac - St.-Emilion 2016
Price: $339.99
| Producer | Château Figeac |
 | |
| Country | France |
| |
| Region | Bordeaux |
| |
| Subregion | St.-Emilion |
| |
| Varietal | Bordeaux Blend |
| |
| Vintage | 2016 |
| |
| Sku | 38976 |
| |
|
Château Figeac Description
With its pedigree style, Chateau Figeac epitomizes the elegance of the great wines of Bordeaux. Its unique style gradually shows through and develops over time.
This great wine displays a distinctive rich nose that has wonderful aromatic complexity. On the palate, the Cabernet Sauvignon reveals lovely floral aromas in the first year then, as the wine ages, great structure on the palate. The Cabernet Franc brings lots of freshness in the tannins, and the Merlot contributes roundness and flesh. The attack on the palate is clean, the texture is silky, and the complexity elegant. The characteristic freshness of Figeac is underpinned by great length of flavor. With its long aging potential, the wine goes on in time to reveal hints of forest floor, leather, cigar-box and licorice – always with its hallmark elegance.
Blend: 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc
Vinous: 100 Points
The 2016 Figeac was bottled at the end of July 2018, since Frédéric Faye wanted to give the wine more time in barrel to develop more harmony. The stunning 24-carat bouquet rivets you to the spot with brilliant delineation and mineral-rich red fruit that articulates its terroir as well as any Right Bank you will find. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannin, perfect acidity, wonderfully integrated new oak and enormous depth toward the fresh, pencil-box- and cedar-infused finish. This is a classic Figeac, up there with the 1947 and 1949, both recently re-tasted and testifying to a wine that genuinely belongs among the elite Saint-Émilions. Faye believes it is the best Figeac he has ever made. He is correct.
Jeb Dunnuck: 98 Points
Another brilliant wine from the genius of Frédéric Faye, the 2016 Château Figeac checks in as 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc that spent 19 months in new French oak. Roughly 75% of the production made it into the grand vin. This deeply colored beauty is a legendary wine in the making and offers ultra-pure aromas and flavors of crème de cassis, smoke tobacco, dried herbs, chocolate, truffle, and graphite. Showing more violets notes with time in the glass, it builds incrementally on the palate, with flawless balance as well as incredible elegance, no hard edges, and a finish that won't quit. Readers will have a blast comparing the 2016 and 2015 vintages over the coming 3-4 decades and this estate is firing on all cylinders. This will most likely merit a triple-digit rating in 7-8 years and keep for 4 decades or more.
Decanter Magazine: 97 Points
Owned by the Manoncourt family since 1947, with Frédéric Faye as general manager and Michel Rolland as consultant since 2013, Figeac is one of two properties ranked premier grand cru classé A in the 2022 St-Emilion Classification (but was not in 2016). Uniquely for Bordeaux’s Right Bank, its 40ha of vineyards are on mainly gravel soils, so Cabernet grapes dominate over Merlot. 2016 blend: 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc, aged in 100% new oak. Georgie Hindle: Not giving ‘drink me now’ vibes, but it’s super-refined, deep and layered. Power and concentration, a stunning, very complete wine. Vincenzo Arnese: Delicate yet ripe aromas of plum, dark cherry, blueberry and blackcurrant, oak, cloves and star anise. Balanced. Arthur Coggill: Rich, heady redcurrant and damson, very in your face red cherry. Supple, gentle palate with walnut. The length gives you time to savour the flavours.
Wine Advocate: 97 Points
The 2016 Figeac is comprised of 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot and 26% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, the nose is a little broody and reticent at this very youthful stage, slowly unfolding to reveal profound plum preserves, crème de cassis, black raspberries and star anise with hints of moss-covered bark, truffles and tilled loam plus a waft of red currants and raspberry leaves sparks. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is practically quivering with energy, offering glimpses at tightly wound black fruit and mineral/ferrous layers, framed by very firm, ripe tannins and wonderful tension, finishing long with the spices coming through. This will need a good 7-8 years to come round and then should cellar for 40+ years. Very serious, beautifully poised and sophisticated personality this vintage.
