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Wine Description
The Story
With its pedigree style, CHATEAU-FIGEAC epitomises the elegance of the great wines of Bordeaux.
The wine’s individual character is drawn from an outstanding, complex terroir, characterised by three Gunzian gravel outcrops. Made from a grape composition of 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc and 30% Merlot, its Cabernet majority is one of its features.Its unique style gradually shows through and develops over time.
Some vintages, such as the 2001 can be enjoyed in the first years; however, CHATEAU-FIGEAC is recognized for its ability to age for many years. Numerous legendary vintages, such as 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990, 2005, 2009 and 2010 testify to this. 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 flavour. With its long ageing potential, the wine goes on in time to reveal hints of forest floor, leather, cigar-box and liquorice –always with its hallmark elegance.
Vintage 2000
Weather conditions / The 2000 vintage was proclaimed from the start as one of the best vintages of modern times. In the spring of 2003, I had many opportunities to find out if we really had a true dream vintage on our hands.
During the 2000 harvest, while doing a “personal inspection” in the vineyards, I noticed that something extraordinary was on the way. The grapes looked extremely healthy.
While the sorting table was rolling, I observed that there were few leaves, stems and weeds among the grapes. This is why sorting the grapes was so easy and quick. This must be one of the characteristics of the 2000 vintage, because normally even great vintages require a lot of work at the sorting table.
The 2000 vintage is a classic, extravagant and extremely long Bordeaux with dark and extremely dense wines, which have a huge concentration of fruit, length and superbly concentrated tannins. The tannin is not allowed to dominate, as it is well enveloped by the fruit. A scent of under-ripeness is only present in a few wines. One of the hallmarks of this vintage is an intense, deep aroma of dark berries, such as blueberries, blackberries and black cherries.
All red grape varieties have reached perfect maturity, including Bordeaux's most temperamental and unruly grape variety, Petit Verdot. Petit Verdot brings to wines the long-awaited addition of backbone and power.
Additionally, the grapes for whites, such as Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Muscadelle, ripened perfectly and produced extremely fine dry white wines. The sweet white wines have unfortunately transformed into some light, elegant and charming wines, based 100% on the September harvest. From October 11, it rained a lot in Bordeaux and this continued until the end of the year.
