Wine Advisor
Figeac 1985
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 1985 Figeac, while not as deep or as powerful as either the 1982 or 1986, is still an elegant, smoky, cedary-scented wine with a healthy dosage of new oak. The wine is smooth, velvety, light to medium-bodied, forward, and fully mature. Anticipated maturity: Now-2002. Last tasted, 4/92.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Medium garnet colour going brick. Delicate dried plum and Chinese five spice aromas are giving way to dominating notes of raisin, leather and faded flowers. Tannins on the palate have all but precipitated providing only a faint touch of powdery texture. A little spice and dried berry fruit remains. Medium+ acidity and a medium to long finish. Drink up – this wine is fading fast. Tasted February 2009.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
First tasted in October 2002 when it was a little thin and tart but improved with aeration. Then a lovely bottle at La Vigneronne at the Figeac vertical in April 2003: the third time I have tasted this wine in a year and it just gets better and better. A brick rim and ruby core. Still that herbal/leathery nose although more intense this time, perhaps a little stalky. The palate is well-balanced, great concentration with well-knit tannins. Perhaps the most focused and harmonious wine of the tasting. Very impressive weight and length. A similar wine to the Figeac 1982. Superb. Tasted October 2002.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the Château Figeac vertical at the property. It has been a number of years since I last tasted the 1985 Figeac. It is forward on the nose, laden with Provençal herbs, autumn leaves and cloves, certainly more forward than the 1985 Cheval Blanc, as one example. There is a fine definition and linearity on the entry, hints of dried blood percolating through the mass of dried herbs with a slight bitterness towards the finish. On this occasion, against my expectations and indeed against form, it is the 1986 that I prefer, whereas the 1985 appears to be in graceful decline. Tasted June 2015.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Fully mature for a number of years, this wine continues to hold onto life, although aging it any longer is probably fruitless (pardon the pun) unless it is from magnum or larger format. The wine shows a very stylish, cedary tobacco, spicy currant nose, with hints of licorice and new oak. Some sweet currant fruit is present, but the wine fades on the palate as well as in the glass. Drink up. Last tasted, 12/02.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Dark ruby/garnet-colored with some amber at the edge, this smoky, cedary, herbaceous-scented wine reveals ripe fruit, and obvious new oak. This 1985 has been mature for a number of years, and given its softness and amber/orange rim, it needs to be drunk over the next 5-6 years. The wine is medium-bodied, soft, not terribly concentrated, but elegant, and pleasant. Anticipated maturity: Now-2002. Last tasted 11/96
About the Producer
During the ten years from 2010 to 2020, the team at Château-Figeac stepped up their efforts to craft consistently precise wines whose purity reflects the distinctive character of the terroir. Each plot and each grape variety, once fully expressed, brings a new element to the rich canvas created every year at blending, giving birth to a remarkable succession of great wines. Freshness is a hallmark of our 2015, 2018 and 2020 vintages, despite very hot and sunny weather. So-called classic vintages are reinterpreted with great subtlety and a mineral cast in the 2010, 2016 and 2019 wines. The singular gift of the Château-Figeac terroir comes to the fore in the 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017 vintages, when the weather was less auspicious. They produced highly successful wines greatly appreciated by faithful connoisseurs. In 2021, Château-Figeac inaugurated a new 5,000 m² semi underground winery equipped with custom made stainless steel and wooden vats. The summit of elegance, a jewel of innovation and precision designed to meet High Environmental Quality standards, it also offers visitors two light and airy tasting rooms.
1969(1)1977(1)1981(1)1982(1)
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