If you’re after a classy Bordeaux that’s both approachable now and built to age, the 2020 Petit-Figeac fits the bill perfectly. This second wine from Château Figeac blends Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon into a vibrant, juicy package with plenty of aromatic complexity—think cherry, hazelnut, and a touch of chocolate. It’s fresh, precise, and mineral-driven, with enough depth to impress whether you pop it open today or stash it for years to come.

James Suckling | JS 94
Published: Mar 28, 2023

So perfumed with cherry, hazelnut and chocolate aromas that follow through to a medium body, with very fine tannins and a fresh and vibrant finish. Crisp and crunchy. Second wine of Figeac. Orange peel and graphite at the end. A blend of 71% merlot, 19% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon. Drink or hold.

Decanter | D 94
Published: Jan 2, 2023
Drink: 2024-2039

Gorgeous aromatic complexity on the nose, floral and bramble fruits. Juicy and so appealing on the palate, the tannins are chalky and fruity at the same time with a beautiful density and liveliness. Lovely precision on the mid-palate, fruit forward, open, expressive and vibrant with so much freshness shining out of the glass. A joyful expression with mouthwateringly pure strawberry, redcurrant, raspberry and red cherry given structure and frame by touches of oak. I love the lick of slate on the finish with the minerality putting this squarely in St-Emilion. A lovely introduction to Figeac with its own personality. You can drink this now, but has potential to age. Keep a bottle to open when anyone comes over, this will impress!

The Wine Advocate | RP 91
Published: Apr 6, 2023
Drink: 2025-2045

A blend of 71% Merlot and 19% Cabernet Franc, the 2020 Petit-Figeac offers up aromas of dark berries, black truffle, loamy soil and cigar wrapper. Medium to full-bodied, layered and sapid, it's deep and elegant, with refined tannins and a penetrating finish. Some 40,000 bottles were produced, with anything that didn't make the cut sold off in bulk.

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.

Chateau-figeac.com

Since the 1945 vintage Chateau Figeac has produced a second wine, created by Thierry Manoncourt, who was one of the first Bordeaux winegrowers to impose strict selection based on quality. Ranamed Petit-Figeac from the 2012 vintage, it has always been made solely from grapes grown on the Chateau-Figeac estate.