Figeac St-Emilion 2015

100 points Jeb Dunnuck: "A hold onto your hat wine, the 2015 Château Figeac is pure perfection and one of the wines of this terrific vintage. A blend of 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and 28% Cabernet Franc, its deep purple color is followed by a huge nose of crème de cassis, black raspberries, smoked earth, and graphite. This is followed by a full-bodied, opulent and incredibly concentrated Saint-Emilion that has everything in the ripe places, no hard edges, thrilling purity of fruit, and a great, great finish. This is one of those rare gems that carries huge intensity and richness, yet still glides across the palate with no sense of weight or heaviness. Winemaker Frédéric Faye thinks the 2016 is even better but that certainly isn’t stopping me from giving this crazy good wine a triple digit score. Everyone owes it to themselves to try and taste this wine at least once! Drink: 2023-2063. (11/30/17)"

100 points Jane Anson (Inside Bordeaux): "(43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Franc). Sweet ripe berry fruits on the nose, depth of flavour, precision and clarity that last from the first to the last moment of this wine. Clear cocoa bean, espresso, chocolate, but also concentrated bilberry, blackberry and raspberry. The tannins are slate-strewn, textured, adding persistency and mouthwatering salinity to the palate. This is a brilliant Figeac, and ones that lovers of this wine should absolutely not miss. Harvest September 21 to October 15, 100% new oak for ageing. Alcohol 14%. Drink: 2025-2050. (3/7/22)"

99 points James Suckling: "Intense, yet extremely precise nose of red fruit with hints of pomegranate and vanilla. Stunning balance of great ripeness and very fine tannins that give this a wonderfully rich and plush texture at the very long and lingering finish, which gives you so much to think about. Drink or hold. Château Quintus vertical tasting. (5/31/22)"

99 points Jeff Leve (The Wine Celolar Insider): "Almost opaque in color, the wine is packed with seemingly endless layers of black plums, cherries, sea salt, flowers, espresso, Cuban cigar, flowers, tobacco leaf, and spice. Full-bodied, rich, opulent, and intense, the velvet-textured finish builds and expands with fruits that move from black to blue to red adding complexity and sapidité. Drink from 2025-2055. (Jul 2022)"

98 points Chris Kissack (Winedoctor): "The blend here is Merlot 29%, Cabernet Sauvignon 43% and Cabernet Franc 28%;this took 75% of the crop, with just 25% going into the second wine. The élevage lasted 18 months, using 100% new oak, which is fairly typical for Château Figeac. This was the first vintage for Romain Paire as technical director, working with Frédéric Faye. This has a classically dark, savoury, blackcurrant character on the nose, with a little sweet black bean note, as well as a little streak of lifted mint. This is quite beautifully composed on the palate, fresh and pure, with a really ripe and voluminous but sinewy texture, carrying blackcurrant, black olive, and black bean fruits, with a good grip to it. It is pure, fresh, lightly minty, but more than that dark, with deliciously ripe tannic structure, giving it a velvety grip through the middle and into the finish. Beautifully fresh with grained tannins, with a delicious substance, the good character coming from the Cabernets really lifting the quality here, despite this being a vintage in which the Merlot did so well. An excellent result which should develop lovely character given time. (May 2018)"

98 points Wine Enthusiast: "Dominated by the two Cabernets—Sauvignon and Franc—this is a beautifully structured wine. Firm tannins and ripe black currants give a perfumed character that is ripe, dense and impressive. The wine has enormous potential, with great tannins and fruit. Drink from 2027. Alcohol 14%. (Apr 2018)"

97+ points Lisa Perrotti-Brown (Wine Advocate): "The recent leaps and bounds in improvements that have occurred at this great estate, equating to a dramatic increase in intensity and complexity—without compromising the husky, soft-spoken, sultry voice that is Figeac—is a monumental achievement. Kudos to Frederic Faye and his team for so beautifully expressing what was clearly an extraordinary vintage at Chateau Figeac! Blended of 29% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon and 28% Cabernet Franc, the deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Figeac reveals vibrant black cherries, cassis, red currants, black plums and licorice notes with touches of cigar boxes, bouquet garni, potpourri, damp soil and black pepper. Medium-bodied, delicately crafted and with nuanced, quietly intense layers of vivacious red and black fruits, the palate features a solid frame of polished, rounded tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and minerally. Drink: 2022-2047. (Feb 2018)"

97 points Neal Martin (Vinous): "The 2015 Figeac is a step up from the 2014 with exquisite scents of red berry fruit, incense, rose petal and crush stone. Pixelated with wonderful precision. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, wonderful backbone allied with a sense of symmetry. It is more saline than previous vintages, with saliva flowing after the wine has exited. One of the standouts from the Right Bank in this vintage. Tasted at the château. Drink: 2025-2055. (Dec 2021)"

97 points Yohan Castaing (Decanter): "This Figeac expresses the solar character of the vintage while retaining enticing freshness. The bouquet is dense and complex with spicy, woody and graphite-like notes mingling with ripe wild berry fruit. The palate also combines a fleshy core with welcome freshness, but also presents a more imposing tannic framework than the ones presented above, and so this is a more monolithic wine that will certainly benefit from cellaring for ten years or more. Drinking Window: 2024-2040. (Sep 2021)"

97 points Lisa Perrotti-Brown (The Wine Independent): "A blend of 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, and 28% Cabernet Franc, the 2015 Figeac is deep garnet-purple colored. It sashays out with gregarious notes of plum preserves, blackcurrant cordial, and Indian spices, followed by hints of redcurrants, camphor, and dark chocolate with a waft of violets. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is rich and seductive with superbly ripe, fine-grained tannins and well-knit freshness, finishing long and perfumed. Irresistible to drink right now (with a good decant), it will easily give another 25-years+ of pleasure. Alcohol 14%. Drink: 2022-2050. (5/9/22)"

97 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "One of the real standouts of the vintage, the 2015 Figeac soars out of the glass with stunning aromatic presence and beautifully layered fruit. Powerful and yet also light on its feet, it is wonderfully complex from start to finish. Plum, mocha, spice, new leather and menthol gradually open up, but the 2015 is most remarkable for its sensual perfume and exceptional overall balance. This is the first vintage the winemaking team followed a new protocol designed to maintain purity of fruit and aromas by reducing contact with oxygen during the first year of aging. The 2015 Figeac is magnificent. Drink: 2025-2055. (Feb 2018)"

96 points Wine Spectator: "Densely packed, with crème de cassis, raspberry reduction and plum sauce flavors allied to notes of loam, warm cast iron and roasted apple wood. Shows terrific cut and energy, with the iron element helping to push the finish along and letting the fruit linger. Among the more backward wines of the vintage, so patience is required. Best from 2028 through 2045. (3/31/18)"

96 points Peter Moser (Falstaff) (1/1/22).

96 points (18/20)/'Le Coup de Coeur,' La Revue du Vin de France: "Very dark, indeniably solar, of a great power, the wine presents voluptuousness of superlative texture and authoritative length from the Cabernets (43% of Sauvignon and 28% of Franc). It has nevertheless developed considerably during the maturing process, to find the architectural tension of Figeac, which will reassure aficionados of the chateau. Very long ageing is foreseen. (2018)"