The best Figeac ever?

The 2022 Château Figeac is a historic vintage for several reasons. Climate, terroir and the will to dare the utmost come together here.

The Négoçiants of Bordeaux, the self-proclaimed wine capital of the world, have a snappy saying for everything. One of them is: Bordeaux doesn’t sell wines, it sells vintages. If this is true, then 2022 was a terrible vintage. Terribly hot, terribly dry, terribly early harvest, terribly short – in other words, terribly overall. However, this does not apply to all châteaux, but only to those that do not have any special terroirs, i.e. no water-spreading soils and no old vines with deep roots. This is likely to be the vast majority of wine producers. For the classified châteaux with good terroirs, however, 2022 was a great vintage. And for one château in particular: Figeac. With the 2022 vintage, Figeac was promoted to a Premier Grand Cru Classé in the „A“ category for the first time, which officially only includes Château Pavie, after Cheval Blanc, Ausone and Angélus, the former „A“ châteaux, voluntarily withdrew from the classification. For the Manoncourt family, the owners, this is a dream come true that they have been fighting to realize for years, if not decades.

Ascent to the Olympus of Saint-Emilion

If the last five Figeac vintages are anything to go by, its ascent to the Olympus of Saint-Emilion is justified. The 2022 Figeac is a wine that has not been seen for a long time. Perhaps never before. Fresher than the 2015, more concentrated than the 2018, more powerful than the 2019, more exciting than the 2020, more spicy than the 2021 – to use the last great vintages as a comparison. Some see parallels to the 1949, which the author of these lines cannot judge, as he never drank the Figeac of this vintage. But the 2022 is probably already a historic vintage. Only very few Saint-Emilions in recent years have been so elegant, so balanced and so precise. Anyone who still has a little money in their petty cash and wants to drink at a high level should seriously consider buying a few bottles.

Surprisingly accessible

Blandine de Brier, the daughter of Marie-France Manoncourt, the grande dame of the owner family, had sent me a bottle of this recently released vintage to try. The instructions were to wait at least ten days after delivery until the wine had overcome the transportation shock, then open the bottle, tip the contents down to the lower shoulder and begin tasting after one and a half hours of contact with oxygen. That’s what happened. In the glass, the wine proved to be surprisingly accessible, although powerful and with a wide range. This is because the tannin is ultra-fine and perfectly fused. But it also plays a role that the wine is so surprisingly fresh – despite the hot vintage. It is not bathed in sweet extract, but is infused with a fine, fruity acidity, which makes it so extraordinarily delicate even when young. The bouquet hints at what this Figeac has to offer: violets, roses, black truffles, plus crème de cassis with a hint of mint and a warm, fragrant earthy crumb – a firework of aromas in a class of its own. However, its texture is even more fascinating. Cashmere-soft, almost gentle on the palate, with a subtly sweet, vanilla-tobacco note on the finish.

Scrupulous selection of the grapes

As always, the wine consists of approximately one third each of Merlot, Cabernet franc and – a special feature of Figeac – Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2022, it is probably the latter variety in particular that has given the wine its extraordinary strength. At 14.5% by volume, it is certainly no lightweight. But with its freshness and piquancy, it is more like a wine with a normal 13% vol. The special elegance of the 2022 is also the result of a scrupulous selection process that began seven years ago, when the individual vineyard plots were divided into small grids and the soil was examined in detail. The new cellar, which was inaugurated with the previous 2021 vintage, made it possible to record and ferment the individual plots separately in 2022 as well, in order to make a strict selection of the best lots for the final blend at the end.

The price has also changed

As was to be expected, the price of the new Figeac has also changed. It has shot up and is now between 350 and 400 euros – a good half the price of the same vintage Cheval Blanc. Those whose budget exceeds this can take solace in the Petit Figeac (for 60 to 90 euros), which is anything but „petit“. It at least gives an idea of what the Grand Vin is capable of. In great years, you should buy the small wines, is another saying of the Négoçiants of Bordeaux.