Château Figeac vertical: Extraordinary vintages

Jane Anson delves into the distant past of this famous St-Émilion estate, tasting 19 select vintages stretching back as far as 1949...

St-Émilion is a place where, set among the limestone splendour and the centuries-old traditions, change and division are never far from the surface.

Château Figeac perhaps exemplifies this more than any other estate, sat somewhere between icon of the appellation and its most high-profile exception.

Located towards the Pomerol borders, Figeac has largely gravelly soils – up to seven metres in depth on parts of the plateau – where most of the appellation is famous for its limestone and clays.

This means that although Merlot accounts for around 80% of the appellation’s vineyard, at Figeac it makes up less than half the blend, outgunned by a combination of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

And although for many decades the estate was seen as a bastion of tradition under late owner Thierry Manoncourt, the past five years have been marked by a rapid series of changes.

Scroll down to see Jane’s tasting notes from the Figeac vertical tasting

These recent changes are undoubtedly linked to a still-held ambition to become Premier Grand Cru Classé A in the St-Émilion ranking, reviewed every 10 years. The last iteration in 2012 saw Châteaux Pavie and Angelus promoted ahead of Figeac, which remains a Premier Grand Cru Classé B.

The estate has since replaced its long-term managing director Eric d’Aramon with former technical director Frédéric Faye. At the same time, Jean-Valmy Nicolas of La Conseillante has become non-executive director, and Michel Rolland has joined the team as consultant winemaker after the retirement of long-term oenologist Gilles Paquet.Alongside the upping of precision through optical sorting and smaller plot by plot vinifications, the long time 1/3-apiece blend of the two Cabs and Merlot has, quite rightly in my opinion, been loosened up in favour of blends reflecting the particular need of each vintage.

In the vineyard, heading back to the 1940s we would have seen Malbec planted, with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon becoming more prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s. Extensive replanting has taken place over recent years, with the aim of reaching a field blend of 40% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, but with flexibility in the final wine.

Figeac has always been a more subtle, classic style of St-Émilion than many of its neighbours, but recent years have seen the texture and tannic power amplified, without losing its signature.

This vertical tasting headed right back to 1949 – the first full vintage under Manoncourt and only three years since it came into his family’s ownership – and what came through again and again is its sheer drinkability. Sometimes decried for its austerity when young, the older vintages regularly showed how this is a wine worth the wait.

The 1959 particularly just leapt out of the glass, and the 1982 proved that this vintage still has years ahead of it for the best wines. My personal favourites were the 1998 and the 2001, with the 2010 quite clearly hard to beat in terms of quality.

I didn’t taste the 2016 in this particular line up, but I would place it just above the 2010 in quality – a clear indicator that the changes at Figeac are far more than merely cosmetic.

It’s worth noting that the wines from 1990 and earlier have been re-corked where necessary.

19 vintage Figeac vertical tasted: