2014 Figgins Estate Red Wine

JamesSuckling.com

• By James Suckling
  3/18/2018, (See more on JamesSuckling.com...)

  (Figgins Walla Walla Valley Estate Red, United States) Login and sign up and see review text.

• By Stephen Tanzer
  Washington: Various Shades of Hot (Oct 2017), 10/1/2017, (See more on Vinous...)

  (Figgins Red Wine Estate Washington Red) Login and sign up and see review text.

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Figgins, 12/5/2017

  (Figgins Estate Red Wine) Hello friends. Hitting your inboxes for a rare Tuesday offer, because I just learned yesterday afternoon that this wine is finally available. Normally an October release in previous years, it’s coming to us a little later this year, but still in enough time for the holidays. This is a limited release of a wine that seems to have achieved cult status in a very short period. This is Chris Figgins’ own project, separate from the Leonetti family of wines. What distinguishes it, and makes it so intellectually interesting, is that it is very much a Bordelaise project. Figgins is a winery with one vineyard (planted mostly to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot) and one red wine (anything that doesn’t make the cut gets sold off on the bulk market), which is a real rarity in Washington. Putting all your eggs in one vineyard basket is gutsy indeed, but Chris Figgins has the skill and experience to make it work. Unsurprisingly, Chris’ emphasis when he talks about the wine is the vineyard, not the winery. Located in the Mill Creek drainage of the Walla Walla Valley, this is as far-east a vineyard as I know of in the Walla Walla Valley, bumping right up against the Blue Mountains. The soils are deep, rich loess, and this area gets enough rainfall that dry-land farming (no irrigation) is possible in some years. It’s a haunting, high-elevation (1750 ft) site, where exactly 17 minutes past sunset each night, a load of cold air from the Blue Mountains comes roaring down Mill Creek canyon. You can feel the air change when you’re standing there, and the grapes feel it too: an instant diurnal shift that helps retain lovely acidity in the finished wines. It’s going to be a real treat to watch this wine evolve as the vines dig deeper, and even the evolution from the inaugural 2008 vintage to now has been fascinating. To see this kind of quality from ninth-leaf fruit augurs well for the future. As usual, this is a wine built more for ageing than for immediate gratification. If you just can’t wait, I’d suggest a multi-hour decant if opening this any time in the next few years. Wine Advocate: Copyrighted material withheld. Washington Wine Blog (Owen Bargreen): “The Figgins Estate Vineyard is located on a south slope where Mill Creek enters the Walla Walla Valley. Known for major diurnal shifts, the Figgins Estate Vineyard is set with the Blue Mountains in the background. The 2014 Figgins ‘Red Wine’ is a blockbuster wine that needs a ton of time in the decanter to settle. This great red wine was aged for 22 months in French oak (61% new) prior to bottling. Following a more than three hour decant the wine slowly unveils black olive tapenade, smoke, cigar box and creme de cassis aromatics. The mouthfeel is ripe, showing intense black cherry cough syrup, boysenberry pie, mocha, graphite and creme de cassis flavors. Not for the weary, the extremely long and memorable finish accentuates this heavyhitter of a wine. Try to avoid this decadent bottling for at least two years. This is just a stunning effort by superstar winemaker Chris Figgins. Drink 2019-2035. 95pts.”