Château Figeac 2023

The 2023 vintage in Saint-Émilion

Vintage benchmark: 92/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: Mildew cost a good share of the harvest; what was brought in is early, fresh and promising.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Saint-Émilion. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

Intense, the nose is seductive in its complexity and elegance. The purity of the fruity bouquet reflects a perfectly controlled ripeness of the three grape varieties. Each variety in the blend also brings its personal touch, with hints of blackcurrant from the Cabernet Sauvignon, a gourmand strawberry scent from the Merlot and a delicate floral note from the Cabernet Franc.

Beyond the vibrant fruit, a mineral sequence emerges, rather saline, a mark of the vineyard's gravel soils. Harmony and balance are carried by a juicy, generous Merlot sprinkled with the spicy and floral notes of the Cabernets. An incredible, lasting freshness ends the tasting on a great emotion.

The vintage

2023 was a hot, dry and early vintage, after a winter of abundant rain that replenished the water reserves in the blue clay subsoil. The Merlots budded early in March, two weeks ahead of normal; the black frosts of 4 and 5 April did not affect the buds at Figeac. Vine growth and flowering were uniform at the end of May. An almost tropical climate in June (persistent morning dew, high temperatures, two major storms with 45 mm of rain on 20 and 22 June) called for reactivity and vigilance. Véraison of the Merlots began on 11 July; the Cabernets waited until 1 August. High temperatures in August (over 40°C for 3 days).

Harvest took place in two stages: the Merlots from 6 to 15 September, then the Cabernets from 27 September to 5 October. The 12-day gap between Merlots and Cabernets is one of the largest in the history of Château-Figeac. Since 2015, vinification without sulphur has favoured the aromatic expression of the wines.

Blend of the 2023 vintage

Figures from the 2023 sheet

• 13.5 % vol.Alcohol
• 31 hl/haYield
• 35 yrsVine age
• 100,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

From the mid-1940s, Figeac adopted the Swiss technique of triggering malolactic fermentation immediately after alcoholic fermentation.

Ageing

100% new barrels, 15 to 18 months.

Terroir

Figeac is the largest estate in Saint-Emilion, covering 54 hectares. Alongside its 40 hectares of vines, the variety of its landscape contributes to what is now called a natural balance, or "biodiversity". Figeac has large open spaces that add to the majesty of the place and allow wildlife and flora to thrive. Figeac has received a true gift from nature: an enviable Bordeaux climate, an exceptional relief made up of 3 fine gravel mounds, and a soil reputed to hold the largest gravels of the area. This magnificent terroir is the basis for the estate's ranking among the Premiers Grands Crus of Saint-Emilion.