Château Figeac 2024

The 2024 vintage in Saint-Émilion

Vintage benchmark: 87/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A difficult flowering and a wet summer reduced the harvest: light, aromatic wines, to be drunk early.

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

This 2024 vintage of Château-Figeac stands out for its remarkable freshness, controlled concentration and highly precise fruit expression. Each grape variety finds its place and this year the Cabernet Sauvignon rises to the rank of major protagonist in the blend.

The vintage

The 2024 vintage will be remembered as one marked by record rainfall and challenging weather conditions. The exceptional terroir of Figeac, with soils of excellent drainage properties and a natural topography conducive to efficient water runoff, helped mitigate the impact of these excessive rains. Budburst began on March 20, flowering on May 25, with some irregularity due to spring rains, and véraison on July 25. July and August, with milder weather, enabled the grapes to achieve a good level of ripeness; the September rains, beneficial for refining the grape skins but weakening their structure, made the monitoring of ripeness even more critical.

Harvest took place from September 20 to October 5. An enhanced sorting line, incorporating a density bath and advanced optical sorting, led to the elimination of 21% of the crop, one of the most rigorous selections ever undertaken at Figeac. The final yield is 31 hL/ha.

Following cold maceration, fermentations proceeded under optimal conditions, with each vat benefiting from a customised approach. The vatting period, lasting between three and four weeks, remained consistent with the estate's established practices; malolactic fermentation proceeded ideally across all lots.

Blend of the 2024 vintage

Figures from the 2024 sheet

• 13 % 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.