March 15, 2024 - Perfumed suggestions of rose stems, blueberries, roasted black cherries, ripe red berries and cinnamon toast. Floral and precise, with milk chocolate and smokey aromatics emerging. The breadth of palate is superb - firm, yet finely milled tannins fan out to reveal a core of blackberry pastille and rose-inflected fruits. Clean, airy and pure, with a touch of sweetness at the back-end. The finish is long and brings a lick of spice. With Iberico pork chops, girolles and truffle risotto. 95+
January 31, 2024 - Sans hésiter, un des plus grands vins de 2017, bientôt buvable, il permettra d'attendre les fabuleux 2016-19-20 et 22
January 13, 2024 - Yields down 55%! Very Cabernet on the nose, liquorice, the palate is magnificent in depth and breadth, rich, tannic but without rusticity, long, with notes of graphite, miraculous in balance and class. There are few but it is a very great wine for the vintage.
November 21, 2023 - Firm, vertical, dry, classic, chalky with notes of tobacco. Manly, but gentle, good spice here, some tannin. Wait five years. 94+
#Schur
February 11, 2023 - 20 Vintages of Figeac (1985-2019): All wines tasted blind. A few observations: 1) Compared many other right bank peers, Figeac never fell into the trap of producing very high ripeness/high extraction wines. The low(er) Merlot content plays a role, but the wines clearly speak of a conscious decision of not going there. But in the 2000s the fruit profile is darker and only more recent vintages go back to the beautiful bright red fruit. 2) The hype is real: The level of greatness this winery achieves since the 2015 vintage is stunning. The complexity, delineation, purity and textural depth are miles ahead of what the company produced before. 3) Figeac shows that it is among the 15 best wines produced in Bordeaux today and considering the En Primeur prices, probably only Montrose and Pichon Lalande have an equally good value proposition in this top group. 4) Winner was the 2019 (97pts) with an unmatched purity and depth, ahead of the 2015 (96pts) and a stunning 2018 (96pts) which tells a lot about how well they coped with the hot vintage.
TN: On the nose lots of roasted and toasted aromas, ripe fruit but not too ripe. The palate shows the same traits, lots of toasty notes and slightly roasted fruit, but then with time more and more and more red berries, seductive red berries, chocolate notes, minerality and some earthy notes. A wall of fine tannins and well-integrated acidity and then this super light and airy texture. A true winner and so good to drink today. Is this strong performance of this wine in this vintage still a surprise if it happens so regularly with the 2017s?
Decanting: Not decanted. No extensive decanting needed.
February 6, 2023 - Chateau Figeac - 35 year vertical tasted blind 1985-2019: Here we go. If there was one wine to show the progress than it was this. Not a top vintage but a very good showing. Ripe, but not overripe, fruit with plum, cherry, gingerbread notes. Medium bodied with good palate presence. Medium- finish. Early drinking window. 94-95
July 8, 2022 - Earthy fruits, tobacco leaves, black plums, cigar box, and dark red currants are found in the nose and on the palate. The wine is bright, crisp, and savory, with a classic, firm edge, and a savory, chalky finish. Give this some time in the cellar to soften and flesh out. Drink from 2029-2055.
November 23, 2020 - The wine does not jump out of the glass, but emerges refined as a queen in all its glory. Beautifully perfumed floral tone over plums, red berries, blueberries, light blackberries, more exotic spices and sweet licorice. Pretty full-bodied and really energetic wine with a great mouthfeel of juicy blackberries, plums, leather and herbaceous spices that create lust with light wood and vanilla on a really fresh and beautiful finish. Great acidity and excellent polished tannin structure that provides exactly the bite needed for this to store very well. Balance is the key word here. Wonderful wine. 95 points.
February 17, 2020 - Amsterdam UGCB Tasting and Winemakers' Dinner (Beurs van Berlage / Eden Hotel): Trade tasting, brief note. Elegance and warmth, flowing and floral, intensity and finesse, touch of tobacco and cedar, refined tannins, complete finish, good length.
November 8, 2019 - Bordeaux 2017: A first look at the newly bottled 2017s Bordeaux. Twelve top 50 Chateaux, three top whites and one top sweet wine tasted (but hardly any superstar). All in all, the wines are good with a soft structure which might make them relatively early approachable. In terms of concentration and depth, however, they do not even remotely match the 2016s (or 2015s and 2018s for that matter). I had a tad higher hopes (for the reds and whites). Top reds: Pichon Lalande (94), Carmes, Poyferre, Canon and Valandraud (all 93) – all with 2 or 3 points upside once mature. As there are so many great recent vintages, there is no need to chase the 2017s reds, especially as they’re priced too high (compared to the other vintages). The sweet wines might be worth exploring further.
TN: Soft and smooth, fine tannins, well-integrated medium acidity. Rather muted on the nose, some candied red fruit and herbs, a hint of minerality on the palate. Creamy texture, medium- concentration and medium- finish. No comparison to the amazing 97 point Figeac 2016 tasted on two occasions 6 and 12 months ago which showed so many different layers despite its youth. 91 points for now with upside to 94/95 once mature.