In the 2nd century AD, a family by the name of Figeacus owned a Gallo-Roman villa on the site of the present chateau and a large estate, to which they gave their name. According to historians, this is the same family that was at the origin of the town of Figeac in the Lot department of France.
The vestiges of an ancient pigeon loft remind us that in the Middle Ages this large farming estate was a noble house. The chateau has conserved a number of doors and low, narrow windows which can be dated to around the year 1000.
In the 15th century, Figeac was one of five noble houses in Saint-Emilion and passed from the Lescours family, who at that time also owned Ausone, into the hands of the Cazes (or Decazes) family, who transmitted it through marriage to the Carles in the 17th century.
Several characters in this long line left their mark on the history of Figeac as well as that of the region. Raymond de Cazes, a lord of Figeac, a Jurat of Libourne, and an influential character, rebuilt the chateau in 1586 in a classical Renaissance architectural style, after it had been burnt down during the Wars of Religion. The second year ageing cellar dates from that time, as do a number of visible architectural features, such as the pillars of the great courtyard, the tower of the chateau's left-wing and elements on window mullions.
Through the marriage of Marie de Cazes in 1654, the noble land of Figeac passed into the hands of the Carles. The Carles were very influential and dynamic in the region and owned numerous properties. They took an active part in the beginnings of a modern type of viticulture in the Libourne area. Their keen commercial sense enabled them to develop a clientele in Paris and in the north of Europe.
The improvements effected by this brilliant family are what today's visitors admire most: the elegant 18th century facade, the pillars of the Court of Honour linked by a wooden grille and surmounted by a flame; and a pediment whose sail billows evoke the shipment of Figeac's wines overseas.
When an economic crisis struck as a result of the Continental Blockade, the Countess de Carles-Trajet sold some of Figeac's land. Parts of this land included Cheval Blanc, which was ceded in 1832. Figeac and its 130 hectares were then sold in 1838. Figeac went through a period of 50 years having 7 different owners.
It was in 1892 that the Manoncourt family's ancestors acquired the core of the property (the three famous gravel mounds which make up its outstanding terroir), and established definitively Figeac's vocation as a wine estate.
Henri de Chevremont, Thierry Manoncourt's great grandfather, acquired Figeac and entrusted the management of the estate to the eminent agricultural engineer Albert Macquin, who structured the vineyard, equipped the cellars with oak vats (sourced from the estate's woods), and experimented the plantations of new species of vegetation around the chateau. It was he who brought a scientific approach to the vineyard and wine-making and a new, unique aspect to Figeac's landscape.
In 1907, the famous Chateau Figeac label was created, carrying the coat of arms of Henri de Chevremont. It evolved thereafter but kept its unique, easy to recognize design.
After the Manoncourt family acquired the property in 1892, Figeac was mainly managed by agricultural engineers. However, in 1943, the year in which Thierry Manoncourt made his first vintage, a period of resurgence began for Figeac. Thierry Manoncourt realised in that year the huge potential of Figeac's terroir and urged his mother, a Parisian, to hold on to the estate. Then, in 1947, once he had graduated as an agricultural engineer, he came and settled at Figeac. He continually wandered through the vines seeking to understand every detail of Figeac's unique terroir. Keeping only those traditions he considered good ones, he improved vine-growing techniques. His scientific approach won him the reputation of a respected innovator.
Thierry Manoncourt made a number of decisive choices. It was thanks to him that Figeac gained its unique grape composition of 30% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Working alongside him, his wife, Marie-France Manoncourt, joined the Figeac cause. Together they developed and improved the property, while carefully preserving the land's biodiversity.
They warmly welcomed visitors from every corner of the world and traveled widely. By the 1960s, Figeac was already known in the USA, and by the 1970s it had gained renown in Asia (Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore).
In 1971, after building a new vat room and barrel cellar, Thierry Manoncourt was dubbed by the press the "Pharaoh of Saint-Emilion".
He was the First Jurat of Saint-Emilion in the years from 1964 to 1988. He also devoted time and energy to promoting Bordeaux wines in general around the world.
By the 1980s, the wines of Chateau-Figeac were recognized around the world. Laure and Eric d'Aramon (Thierry and Marie-France Manoncourt's daughter and son-in-law) settled at Figeac to lend their support. Gradually, Count Eric d'Aramon took over the operational management of the estate. Part of his mission was to introduce a more modern and more structured type of management whilst ensuring the long-term continuity of the business. He was General Manager until 2012. This was the period of long promotional trips (as member of the Union des Grands Crus) and the opening up of new markets.
It was also during this period, in 2002, that Frederic Faye arrived at Figeac. His recruitment illustrated the family's determination to continue and develop the scientific, qualitative approach to vine growing that had first driven Figeac's success. A graduate in agricultural engineering, Frederic Faye, alongside Thierry Manoncourt, got to know every nook and cranny of the vineyard and immediately entered into the spirit of the Figeac cause. He was soon at the head of a highly motivated crew, bringing fresh energy and introducing new skills, while launching wide-ranging projects.
Well before passing away in August 2010, Thierry Manoncourt had been careful to transmit the skills and values he had introduced and developed at the property.
Today, Madame Manoncourt and her daughters are ably supported by highly skilled vine-growing teams and are as eager to guarantee the long-term continuity of Figeac. They are careful to preserve its spirit and the values of knowledge-sharing, innovation, excellence and a warmth of welcome that have always been central to the way in which this unique property has been run every day.
The soils which produce the wines of Figeac are mostly composed of snady-gravel alluvium originating from France's Massif Central mountains and deposited by rivers at the beginning of the Quaternary era. In the Bordeaux area these soils are essentially found in a few vineyards in St-Emilion, Pomerol, and on the left bank of the river at classified growths in the appellations of Pessac-Leognan and the Medoc, especially Margaux.
The gravelly topsoil, distributed in the form of 'outcrops', favours the accumulation and reflection of heat, creating a very favorable microclimate for the ripening of the grapes and for obtaining complexity and finesse in the wines. The slopes of the outcrops provide good extra natural drainage of rainwater.
The subsoil contributes diversity to the terroir with very deep gravel layers and others in which clay is found at depth, which favors good vine growth and the full ripening of the grapes.
These soils have outstanding vine-growing potential. They warm up quickly in spring, favoring early vine shooting and of course the early ripening of the grapes. This explains and justifies Figeac's original grape composition with its balance of the three main grape varieties - Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon - which is unique in the Bordeaux area. The late-ripening Cabernets mature perfectly in Figeac's soils.
Gravel soils are naturally not very fertile and bring about only moderate vine vigor and consequently low yields, which favor natural concentration and high quality grapes.
The blocking of grape ripening caused by water deficit stress, due to excessively hot and dry summer weather, hardly ever occurs at Figeac. The strong sandy-gravel soil texture and the relatively deep clay soils bring about moderate and regular water supply to the vines. Ideal conditions are therefore found at Figeac for perfect grape ripening.
Figeac is a large estate covering some 54 hectares, home to remarkable biodiversity features that form a wonderful natural setting.
The Manoncourt family lives at the property, which is surrounded by great open spaces that give a majestic feel to the place. Five hectares of grounds, meadows, a pond, an arboretum, a bamboo garden, a warren planted with English, Holm, and Cork oak trees, as well as hundreds of China rose bushes that border the vine rows, together with all the appreciative fauna, make this estate unique.
Madame Manoncourt takes particular care in watching over the beauty of the whole of the estate.
The savoir-faire exercised in Figeac's wine-growing has been developed from a mix of tradition and innovation, underpinned by science-based methods.
Since the 1950s, Figeac's wine-growing has been environmentally-friendly and based on careful observation of the vines and on surveys carried out using the latest techniques. These methods are practised by all of the wine-growing team who, as wine artisans, watch over 240,000 vines with the greatest care to ensure the production of the best possible grapes, which is a pre-requisite for the making of a great wine.
These wine artisans apply the same care and precision in the cellars to preserve Figeac's distinctive style. In order to bring out the best in every vintage, an individualized approach is adopted, ensuring that the complexity of the terroir is clearly expressed in the wine.
The teams working in the vines and cellars function in perfect synergy, sharing a common passion and one aim: to achieve an outstanding wine in every vintage.
Thanks to tradition and more particularly to the ongoing scientific approach enthusiastically introduced by Thierry Manoncourt, the Figeac vineyard and its viticultural methods have been successfully adapted to the different soils that make up its terroir. Judicious choices were made concerning the three grape varieties, the rootstocks, the exposure of the vine rows and so on. These choices have always been made compatible with the Manoncourt family's demands to accord the greatest care to the natural environment.
In the vineyard, recent innovations have essentially concerned research into optimal grape ripeness and improvements in the vine canopy. Massal selection has been introduced, the vineyard has been restructured, and greater means have been put at the disposal of the vineyard team.
In order to make a great wine, it is clear that grapes need to be picked at optimal ripeness. However, optimal ripeness is not a universally-held notion, and at Figeac the combination of determining factors is complex due to the nature of the soils, the three grape varieties and the co-existence of young vines with others which are almost a century old. A very strict system has been necessary to be able to fix harvesting dates with great precision and stagger picking. The decision-making process is supported by laboratory analyses and thorough surveys which have enabled intra-plot separations of zones, as well as berry tastings in the vines to assess the aromatic profile of the grapes.
The cellarmaster oversees the wine-making process with precision and passion, exercising perfect control over the Figeac style. Together with his team he adopts an individualised approach which take into account each grape variety and vineyard plot and succeeds in bringing out the complexity of the terroir and the best of each vintage.
A consultant oenologist has for many years made a contribution to this quest for excellence. In 2012, the Manoncourt family appointed Michel Rolland. He has added his special expertise in order to bring out even better the qualities of this outstanding and complex terroir.
The wine-making process combines traditional methods with the techniques brought by modern equipment, ensuring that the quality of the grapes, the musts, the wines and their traceability are carefully respected.
Following the terroir analyses carried out using infrared aerial imagery and the geo-resistivity survey, the harvesting of the grapes at Figeac is staggered according to individual, specific intra-plot zones. The vat cellar was adapted to be able to vinify separate batches coming from these intra-plot zones, thanks to small-sized fermentation vats. The oak vat cellar, which was renovated in the 2000s, contains ten open-topped conical oak vats, especially adapted for the gentle extraction of phenolic compounds using the famous 'immersed cap' method. The stainless steel vat cellar is made up of 12 vats of 160 to 15-hectolitre capacity.
The harvesting of perfectly ripe grapes has enabled the wine of Chateau Figeac to be aged 100% in new oak barrels since the end of the 1960s. These barrels are sourced from 8 different coopers and are specially designed for Figeac according to a specific brief. They are toasted with a medium char and are solely made up of French oak.
About 100,000 bottles of the Chateau Figeac Grand Vin are produced annually, along with about 40,000 bottles of the second wine 'Petit Figeac'.
The 2017 Chateau Figeac has a good nose showing nice black fruit of blackcurrant, blackberry and plum, with vanilla and toasty notes coming from the oak. There are chocolate, licorice, earth and savory characters, with the well-balanced palate having good concentration of flavors plus a reasonable length on the finish.
