The 2005 Château Figeac checks in as 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Merlot, raised all in new barrels. Still a youthful ruby/purple hue, with a killer nose of ripe blackcurrants, chocolate, roasted tobacco, and lead pencil, this certainly earns its reputation for being the Médoc on the Right Bank with its powerful, Cabernet-driven style. It's rich, full-bodied, opulent, and incredibly sexy on the palate, with velvety tannins and a great finish. It’s a beautiful Figeac that benefits from air and has another 15+ years of prime drinking.

This is plush and warm in feel, with lots of currant and fig preserve flavors rolling through, inlaid with tobacco, warm stone and bittersweet cocoa notes. Shows a hefty dose of roasted alder on the finish, but in general this has been absorbed, making this a step ahead in terms of evolution, but there's no rush, as a racy iron streak is just starting to show up. (JM)

Medium ruby-red. Cool, scented aromas of blueberry, violet, licorice and dark chocolate; dominated by the cabernet franc. Then sharply focused, vibrant and fine-grained, with the minty austerity Figeac often shows in its youth. Figeac is always hard to assess at this early stage, but this vintage impresses with its liqueur-like cherry flavor. Finishes with very firm, slightly dry tannins.

Interesting aromas of cedar, tobacco, dark fruits, cinnamon, and cigar box. Full and solid, with chewy tannins. A very direct, straight, and pure wine with lovely freshness. This is starting to close, give this some time.

Tasted at the Château Figeac vertical at the property. While I enjoy the 2005 Figeac, there is still a sense of a potential great Saint Emilion falling short of what it could have been. Now with ten years on the clock, the nose is cool and focused, very Pauillac-like in style, the Cabernet Sauvignon driving it along. With time it begins to open up and loosen its tie, revealing a pleasing licorice scent. The palate is medium-bodied with a pleasurable, supple, fleshy entry. It seems to offer black rather than red fruit at the moment, the acidity well judged. So why the parsimonious score? Well, it doesn't build on this promise, as if it runs out of ideas two-thirds of the way through. It takes the easy option and declines to offer that tension and complexity on the finish that certainly the aromatics deserve. In fact, this might well be the only wine where I prefer the 2006 to the 2005. Tasted June 2015.