2017 Figeac

Bright and fresh, offering lovely cassis and black cherry notes sitting atop a sleek iron spine. Floral and savory details run throughout. Shows a refined structure. Sneakily long, with persistent fruit.—J.M.

The 2017 Château Figeac is an undeniable success in the vintage and this estate is on an incredible roll under the guidance of winemaker Frédéric Faye. Sensational notes of crème de cassis, graphite, violets, and a hint of minerality all emerge from this elegant, medium to full-bodied Saint-Emilion. Similar to the 2016, yet with the intensity turned down just slightly, it has building tannin, no hard edges, and a great finish. Give bottles 3-4 years and enjoy over the following two decades. The blend is 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc, with the harvest stretching from September 7 to October 3. Yields were a soul-crushing 22 hectoliters per hectare, half of normal.

The aromatics here are highly appealing, the well-weighted cassis fruit with touches of woodsmoke scents reflecting the clean black fruits on the attack, delivered with a sense of precision. The fruit is a little below the exceptional quality of the last few years, but 2015 and 2016 were just such sensational wines here, and this was a far trickier vintage. The austerity needs time to soften, opening up in the glass but lacking the floral signature of the estate, perhaps due to low Cabernet Franc levels - Figeac lost 55% of the crop to frost, hitting the Cabernet Franc particularly hard, which is why this vintage has the lowest Cabernet Franc on record at the estate. They have done an excellent job of not over-extracting, and it has a gentle depth of bramble fruit, menthol and eucalyptus that unrolls with some minerality. The last plots came in on 3 October, but they often went through the same plot several times to wait for full ripeness, and only around 10% of second generation fruit made it into the final wine. 50% of overall production will make Figeac in 2017, equating to perhaps 48,000 bottles. Yield 22hl/ha. This is an excellent wine, but lacks a little of the Figeac signature that has been so brilliantly developed over the past few years.