Community Tasting Note
-
BenBlu Does not like this wine: 87 points
November 15, 2017 - Chateau Figeac Dinner with Frederic Faye (Farr Vintners London): I would have really liked not to share Bob Parker's view on this wine, but I just have to hand it to him - he did nail this one in the end unfortunately scoring it mid 80s. The 2000 Figeac is really not a great wine which became evident side by side the 2004. It is very herbacious / vegatal, so green, I could not unfurl the fruit. Suggesting this is "not ready" yet is wrong in my view, this just won't blossom in my humble opinion. Weirdly enough I have had consistently underwhelming experiences with 2000 Bordeaux lately (Leoville Barton and Lagrange being the others - I have only felt that Pichon Baron made good on the high esteem the millennial vintage is generally held).
4 people found this helpful 5,580 views
8 Comments
-
Purple Tooth commented:
11/16/17, 7:06 AM - BB my friend, I don't like this wine either. I have had it since release and I have tried it four times...My remaining bottles are on my sell list. I can buy many a left bankers for the money these will fetch and I will enjoy them much more. By the way, I got suckered into buying the 2009 version of this which was rated quite high and I don't like those that much more for the money either...I got into Figeac because of the 1990. That wine had a profound impact on me. As I am getting older and more tuned in, I am realizing that I don't care for St. Emilion wines that much until they hit full secondary development and start throwing funk and violets. Other than that, they are a dime a dozen and I have stopped collecting them. We have similar taste, which makes you a person with an awesome palate! :-)
-
valedeniro commented:
12/13/17, 4:55 AM - One thing is sure ... we did not drink the same wine ! Opened 4 bottles always great juice ! Classical Bordeaux at its best ! Different "batches" ???
-
BenBlu commented:
12/13/17, 5:55 AM - Must be. What I was drinking was definitely not a great wine. Frederic Faye was present and tasted all bottles on pulling the cork and gave this one a nod for being a clean sample, also all bottles were ex-chateau...
-
otto60 commented:
1/22/18, 11:15 AM - Hi Benblu, thanks for Your detailed and picturesque descriptions!
My experience speaks for inacceptable bottle variation with Figeac 2000. From about 6 bottles a was allowed to share with a very good friend abt 5 years ago there was one brilliant and the rest variable/mediocre.
This one bottle made me buy 2015/16
Cheers! -
BenBlu commented:
1/23/18, 4:57 AM - Dear otto60 - thank you for your note. I think the 2015 and 2016 will be truly fantastic wines. I made the mistake of not buying the 2015 en primeur but bought two cases of the 2016. Cheers, Ben.
-
otto60 commented:
1/26/18, 7:04 AM - The 2016s quality may make it less of a mistake - aside from the price tag..
Salute! -
Collector1855 commented:
3/6/18, 6:01 PM - Thanks for this note and agree with you. We have to stop calling 20 year old Bordeaux that are tannic, lean, green as "not read". There is a moment when your cards are on the table and a reliable verdict can be delivered. For me that is at age 15-20 with Bordeaux/Rhone and 10-15y with Burgundy.
I had Figeac2000 multiple times since I bought it en primeur. When it was young it was absolutely fabulous, complex and the green streak was hiding behind lush fruit. Unfortunately with age the green part came more and more to the front. Now some people have more tolerance for greenish tones (including myself, I rather hate it when it is too rich) but no one can deny that these grapes were picked below phenolic maturity by a complacent family who was thinking they can produce stellar wine from a deck chair - shame on them. I sold all my Figeac bottles and re-bought it again in 2015/16 upon recommendation of Jean-Marc Quarin (www.quarin.com). Better pay a premium and have a wow wine than a cheaper one that does not delight the guests. Glad to see your positive notes on these two vintages. -
BenBlu commented:
3/7/18, 3:51 AM - Thank you for your note and you have clearly made the right decision. If you want truly great wines (and judging by your profile and what wonderful wines you drink and have experienced you clearly are) based on the vertical it is OK to give every Figeac with the exception of the 1982 a miss. The 2015 and 2016 I am hugely excited about and I am sure we can both count ourselves lucky to own them further down the road (I should have bought the 15 en primeur, but didn't - but had to pick a case up after the tasting). The 2015 is actually in a baby drinking window right now, but obviously you would be leaving a lot on the table by popping the cork, but it's no crime to check in on one if you have a lot of them.