Sie bieten hier auf eine Flasche

1958er

Chateau Figeac

Premier Grand Cru Classe

Saint Emilion

Bordeaux

France

Chateau Figeac is not an old Bordeaux wine property. Figeac is an ancient Bordeaux wine property! In fact, it can be dated as far back as the second century during the ancient Gallo-Roman period. At that time, the owner of the property, Figeacus gave his name to the villa he built on the same location. Even the ancient Romans knew Figeac had great terroir. Figeac is one of the few St. Emilion wine vineyards that has remained continually occupied for the past two thousand years. If you’re visiting Chateau Figeac, you can easily see a water supply system that dates back to the days of the ancient Romans. There are also remains of building foundations, ruins from the Middle Ages and even defensive walls along with the remnants of the original Renaissance chateau at Figeac. The Renaissance styling’s are easily noted in the famous door and the tower.

Skipping ahead a millennium or two, by the late 18th century, Chateau Figeac had already been owned by the same family for almost five centuries! The St. Emilion vineyards of Figeac had grown to a massive 200 hectares. By that time, Figeac was one of the largest Bordeaux vineyards in the appellation. That is not the case today. Over the years, numerous owners have bought and sold different parcels and plots. This is the explanation as to why so many different chateaux have Figeac in their name. The vineyards of Figeac were not only sold to create other St. Emilion estates, portions of the land were also purchased by neighboring Pomerol produces like Chateau La Conseillante . One of the largest sections were sold to the Ducasse family who used the land for Chateau Cheval Blanc .

By the time Figeac was purchased by the Chevremont family, the precursors to the Manoncourt family in 1892, the 200 hectare vineyards were now only 37 hectares of vines. Thierry Manoncourt managed the property since 1946. Born in Paris, Manoncourt was one of the founders of the Bordeaux Grand Crus Union. He was president of the Jurade of St. Emilion from 1964 to 1987. Thierry Manoncourt was as traditional as he was innovative. When he completely renovated the cellars and wine making facilities. Thierry Manoncourt made sure that Figeac the first major estate in the Right Bank to use temperature controlled, stainless steel vats in the fermentation room. It was also Thierry Manoncourt was made the choice to become the first important estate in the Right Bank to produce a second wine .

Thierry Manoncourt passed away Friday, August 27 at his beloved Chateau Figeac, located in St. Emilion. One of the last of the old guard, he was only a few days shy of his 93rd birthday. Funeral services were held in St. Emilion. Many people who have been able to taste the older vintages of Chateau Figeac made when Thierry Manoncourt was in charge of the estate feel that those wines were probably the finest wines to have ever been produced at Chateau Figeac.

Chateau Figeac is a traditional style of Bordeaux wine. The wine is between medium to full bodied, with an edge on aromatics over mouth feel. Chateau Figeac can be enjoyed at a reasonably young age. Older vintages, especially from 1964 and older can age for decades. The wine of Chateau Figeac went through a period of making wine not up to the quality of its terror over the past several decades. It can be argued that Figeac was not up to par since the great 1964. Following the reclassification of St. Emilion in 2013, when Figeac lobbied, but did not come close to receiving its much, sought after promotion to Grand Cru Classe A status, Figeac made steps to improve their wines, image and position on the marketplace.

The first step in the right direction was the hiring of the wine consultant, Michel Rolland and Jean Valmy Nicolas of Chateau La Conseillante. Bringing in Michel Rolland sparked controversy, as the wine of Chateau Figeac has a very traditional fan base. Having tasted the 2012, and 2013 where Michel Rolland assisted in the blending, the wine is clearly better. It is especially noticeable in the mid palate, density and texture. The next decision was to retire the previous director, who managed Chateau Figeac since 1988, Eric d’Aramon. Eric d’Aramon, the son in law of Thierry Manoncourt was replaced by Frederic Faye at the behest of Madame Marie-France Manoncourt.

Once Frederic Faye was firmly in place, he made a few, important changes. In the barrel cellars, he installed new temperature controlled units with ventilation. The following year the chateau modernized their cellars, removed their older pumps and started moving everything by gravity flow. His next efforts were in the vineyards, with additional planting of Cabernet Sauvignon vines that were hoped would be a better fit for the gravel soils. Chateau Figeac started a major renovation and modernization of the cellars that allowed for complete plot by plot vinification in 2015, which was finished completed in 2018.

Chateau Figeac is a unique vineyard with equally unique percentages of grape varietal plantings in the Right Bank. The vineyard of Chateau Figeac, which is in the north west portion of St. Emilion is planted to 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc and 30% Merlot . It is the goal of Chateau Figeac to continue increasing the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the gravel parcels until they are close to 40% of the vineyard blend. The preponderance of both types of Cabernet in the vineyard and in the wine can often make Figeac a difficult wine to taste En Primeur. Figeac often needs a few extra months for the blend to really come together and show its potential.

The vineyards of Figeac are divided into separate parcels. The average vine density in the vineyards of Chateau Figeac are 6,000 vines per hectare. They have old vines. In fact, the oldest vines belonging to Chateau Figeac are now close to 100 years of age! On average, they are 45 years of age. Interestingly, many of the estates oldest vines were personally planted by Thierry Manoncourt with some help from Madame Manoncourt.

The vineyards of Chateau Figeac are planted to different proportions from that of all the other growers in St. Emilion, and n all of Bordeaux as well. In part, this has a lot to do with the unique fine, gravel based soils. This terroir is uncommon in the Right Bank with its gravel, clay and sand makeup. Along with Chateau Cheval Blanc, Chateau Figeac is one of the few great terroirs of St. Emilion not situated on the limestone based soils of the cotes. Interestingly, until the 1950’s, the vineyard of Chateau Figeac maintained close to 5% Malbec . Those vines were eventually removed. The vineyard, located close to Cheval Blanc and Pomerol, with its gravelly terroir explains in part, why Figeac is able to produce such an elegant wine. However, the entire estate is not reserved for vines. They have a massive garden and lake with geese and ducks located behind the personal family home.

To produce the wine of Chateau Figeac, vinification takes place in a combination of 20 large, temperature controlled, stainless steel tanks and large, open top wood vats. The vats are in equal proportion with 10 made from stainless steel and 10 made from oak. Since 2009, malolactic fermentation takes place in vat. Chateau Figeac is then aged in 100% new, French oak barrels for 18 months before bottling. The blend of Chateau Figeac most often relied on equal portions of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon in the past. Today, that is no longer the case. The blend varies from vintage to vintage, depending on the character of the year, and how each separate grape variety performed.

The average annual production of Chateau Figeac is close to 10,000 cases per vintage. There is a second wine, La Grange Neuve de Figeac. Here’s a nice fact for you, Thierry Manoncourt was the first Right Bank producer to create a second wine. In 2013, the second wine was renamed Petit Figeac. In 2014, the estate became to first Saint Emilion property to inspect each cork, before bottling.

Der Wein wird fachgerecht gelagert (Etikett, Kapsel und Füllstand siehe Fotos). Weine reifen mit dem Alter und es kommt zu geschmackliche Veränderungen. Entsprechend gibt es aufgrund des Alters keine Garantie mehr ob und wie schmackhaft / trinkbar der Wein noch ist. Das Geschmacksrisiko trägt ausschließlich der Käufer.

Der Wein enthält Sulfite und Alkohol. Der Wein ist für Schwangere und Minderjährige nicht geeignet.

Wein kann Allergene enthalten.

Kein Verkauf an Personen unter 18 Jahren! Mit Ihrem Kauf bestätigen Sie Ihre Volljährigkeit.

Bitte lassen Sie den Wein nach dem Transport ein wenig ruhen damit sich das Depot wieder absetzen kann.