2008 Château Figeac

Community Tasting Note

wrote:

84 Points

Thursday, October 16, 2014 - This bottle of the 2008 Figeac performed somewhat better than the first one I tasted but I remain underwhelmed - despite the overdone passion of some of the other reviewers on this site. Displaying a thick, deep ruby core, the wine has some promising fragrant aromas of cassis, chocolate and graphite. It is full bodied and pleases the palate with a soft and silky texture. However the tannic structure is alarmingly light and the flavours muted and hollow; and while there are some enjoyable notes of raspberry, burnt tar and caramel to speak of it clearly lacks the concentration, depth, precision and intensity I would expect from a wine of this stature. The fairly long finish does make up somewhat for the overall shortcomings of this disappointing Figeac. A good wine? Yes. A great wine? Surely not - and for similar value the vintage has far, far better to offer. Drink it over the next five years as it does not possess the structure or complexity to last beyond that.

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8 comments have been posted

  • Comment posted by pjaines:

    10/17/2014 1:09:00 AM - To be fair you marked it up 3 points from before!

    Mine are sitting in the cellar in France so I'll have to wait until I am back there before cracking one. I did have some 2005 Figeac the other night - now THAT is a wine that will take another 20 years to round - amazing depth.

  • Comment posted by Wineguy76:

    10/17/2014 1:33:00 AM - Well I did say it was better than the first one...hence the 3 points up!
    Fully agree on the 05. I had it myself a few months ago in a mini-vertical with the 01 and both were absolutely sumptuous wines in all respects with very long lives ahead of them. 08 was obviously not the same vintage quality but still a very decent one and I would have expected much more from a wine like Figeac.

  • Comment posted by pjaines:

    10/17/2014 1:48:00 AM - The feeling in the industry is that Figeac will be undergoing a bit of a style change with the new leadership team - which is a shame - I've always loved the wine for its a-typical make up. I guess more Gobs of Fruit and oak looks like the plan.

  • Comment posted by Wineguy76:

    10/17/2014 1:55:00 AM - That would be a shame indeed. Probably a good time to stock up on some of the serious vintages then...have you tasted any of the more recent ones? Although still an infant I bet the 09 must pack quite a punch.

  • Comment posted by pjaines:

    10/17/2014 2:03:00 AM - Not had the 09 and 10 and I refuse to buy them because the prices are utterly utterly ridiculoius. They managed to alienate people who purchased the wine every year. I'm not buying at the new price level - hopefully they have seen the error of their ways and the 2011 and 2012 are more sensibly priced, but if they are chasing Grand Cru Classe A classicification then price is one of the parameters used to gain promotion so I'd expect another increase soon. A shame.

    I found the 2007 surprisingly good and woud drink well quite young.

  • Comment posted by Wineguy76:

    10/17/2014 2:18:00 AM - Agreed ridiculously overpriced, especially when you can buy the 05 for almost half the price. I'd still love to taste the 09 though...in a few years.

  • Comment posted by pjaines:

    4/8/2015 12:44:00 AM - Well, I finally got to taste another bottle from my cellar and found the wine to be much deeper and broader than before. I actually found this to have the stuffing for some decent ageing, although not sure this is a 20 year wine.

  • Comment posted by Wineguy76:

    4/8/2015 6:47:00 AM - That's good to know, thanks for the feedback. I shall open another one of my bottles in a year's time and hope to be pleasantly surprised as well.

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