From one of St-Émilion’s most prestigious estates, Château Figeac 2020 is a benchmark vintage showcasing exceptional precision and harmony. Deep crimson in colour, it opens with aromas of blackberries, raspberries, violets, and red roses, layered with cigar wrapper, black truffle, licorice, and subtle minerals. On the palate, it is full-bodied yet refined, with vibrant acidity, silky tannins, and a seamless balance of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine delivers concentrated dark fruit, elegant spice, and a long, structured finish.

The Wine Advocate | RP 100
Published: Apr 06, 2023
Drink: 2030-2065

The 2020 Figeac is the finest wine that has been bottled to date at this estate since its renaissance began a decade ago. Wafting from the glass with aromas of blackberries and raspberries mingled with cigar wrapper, pencil shavings, licorice and black truffles, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a suave, harmonious profile, vibrant acids, and beautifully refined structuring tannins. This sapid, complex wine represents the essence of this great terroir. Two years after extensive soil studies of the estate were carried out, and the first growing season to see cover crops used in the vineyards year-round, the 2020 benefited from more coherently demarcated parcels and more precise élevage, which taken together help to account for its edge over the excellent 2019.

Director of Château Figeac since 2013, Frédéric Faye emphasizes precision and timing when he characterizes the estate's evolution over the last decade. Harvest now lasts three or four weeks, stopping and starting, so each parcel of this 41-hectare vineyard can be picked at optimal maturity. Farming is similarly adapted parcel by parcel, with year-round cover crops and cultivation by horse to minimize soil compaction. And a brand new winery triples the team's working space, with small tanks so each parcel can be vinified separately. Yet the objective is to perfect Figeac, not to change it. If the estate's wines are now suppler and fuller, their classically Cabernet-rich assemblage hasn't altered. Old-fashioned approaches such as submerged cap fermentation for fruit growing on gravel soils have been retained. And of course, the estate's distinctive and complex terroir hasn't changed. 

James Suckling | JS 100
Published: Nov 19, 2023

A mesmerizing nose here with flowers such as violets and red roses, then shows cherries and currants with some mineral and black truffles. Full-bodied yet so refined and harmonized with ultra-fine tannins that run the length of the wine. Flavors of perfectly ripened fruit (al dente) with a hazelnut character that comes from the seeds. Incredibly transparent young red. Breathtaking. 37% merlot, 32% cabernet franc and 31% cabernet sauvignon. Drink after 2028 and onwards. Magnificent.

Decanter | D 98
Published: Apr 20, 2022
Drink: 2028-2065

The finesse, elegance and density counted among the top 2020s tasted at a horizontal for the vintage by Millésima in Bordeaux. Glorious and bright, with amazing depth and focus, this wine blends 37% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Franc and 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, revealing wonderful primary plum, blackberry, juicy black cherry and spring flowers, leafy tobacco and cardamon and cedar spice. At once full bodied and elegant, with smooth tannin and a very long finish, it seamlessly combines Merlot driven juicy opulence with structure and freshness from the Cabernets.
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 13.80%
Body: Full
Oak: Oaked
Grapes: 32% Cabernet Franc 31% Cabernet Sauvignon 37% Merlot

Jancis Robinson | JR 18.5
Published: Jan 24, 2024
Drink: 2030-2048

Tasted blind. Dark crimson. Sweetly seductive dark-red fruit but with a light stony/mineral side to it. So fragrant. Sweetly seductive and refined on the palate, too. Very fine layered tannins, relatively light-bodied but great length. (JH)