Bordeaux Collector Wines

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Hail on 1 July took 40% of the crop from half of Figeac's 40ha vineyard. Harvest ran from 23 September to 13 October. I last tasted this vintage in a vertical at the estate a few years ago, and it's every bit as good today. It's getting to that perfect moment to drink, when you just sink into it. It has a rich and complex nose of blueberries and cassis, rippled through with leather, cigar box and exotic spices. The tannins are soft and almost nutty, but this is still a vibrant wine full of life, sumptuous with great concentration.Decanter | 98 DEC(Château Figeac (St. Émilion)) The 1998 Château Figeac is one of the greatest young vintages from this property in the last twenty-five years and the wine continues to show stunning potential. It is a far cry from ready to drink, but it is getting to that stage where it is awfully tempting to start opening bottles! The deep and stellar bouquet jumps from the glass in a sappy blend of black cherries, red plums, Cuban cigar wrapper, a great base of soil tones, chocolate, still a bit of Figeac’s youthful herb tones, toasty new oak and a topnote of St. Émilion nutskin. On the palate the wine is pure, full and sappy at the core, with excellent soil signature, ripe, seamless tannins and outstanding focus and grip on the very long, complex and perfectly balanced finish. A gorgeous bottle of Figeac that still deserves at least a few more years in the cellar to really hit its apogee. (Drink between 2021-2075)John Gilman | 95 JGPretty blackberry, with black olive on the nose. Full-bodied, with fine tannins and a delicate fruit, dark chocolate and coffee aftertaste.—'88/'98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Best after 2010.Wine Spectator | 91 WSAs befitting a wine with considerable Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in the blend, this is a stylish, mid-weight effort with an opulent, complex bouquet of licorice, Asian spices, tobacco, and fruit cake. Obvious black currants, smoke, vanillin, and new saddle leather are prominent in the wine's beautifully-knit flavors. This opulent, rich, concentrated, layered, pure, complex 1998 reveals low acidity as well as ripe tannin, suggesting it will be impossible to resist young. Anticipated maturity: now-2016.Robert Parker | 90 RPThe 1998 Figeac, now at 20 years old, was a vintage that was affected by the hailstorm during the summer. This bottle is more open than the magnum poured at the vertical in 2015, but the aromatic profile is the same with rustic red berry fruit, ferrous notes and just a touch of juniper berry. The palate is medium-bodied with solid tannin that have softened in recent years, grainy in texture with a linear, Cabernet-driven finish that denudes this Figeac the opulence of its peers. It is a fine Figeac although it would not be in the top drawer of vintages. Tasted at the château.Vinous Media | 90 VM

Tasted from barrel in 2005, this was among the best wines of the vintage, with limestone-soil character coming through the fresh brightness of fruit. Ausone was all potential energy then, and it has only improved in the two years since. The wine shares the resonant depths of the ancient limestone caves at Ausone, as the flavors echo through the finish. It starts off from a small place, a sweet confection that brings roasted blueberries to mind, the caramelized oak tasting like the edge of charred fat on extremely fine grilled beef. Over the course of several days, the wine becomes increasingly more subtle and serious in tone, with delicate red fruit, gracious mineral-inflected tannins and detailed flavors that last effortlessly. This Ausone will live for decades.Wine and Spirits | 98 W&SPretty aromas of crushed blackberry, with hints of ash and light earth. Full-bodied, with ultrafine tannins and a long, caressing finish. Goes on and on. Such class. Sleek and racy. Best after 2012. 1,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSOne of the vintage’s most compelling wines (what’s new about that?), Alain Vauthier’s beloved 2004 Ausone has closed down considerably since I tasted it out of barrel, but it remains among the most concentrated wines of the vintage. Furthermore, along with Petrus, it will probably be the longest-lived. A dense purple color is accompanied by a celestial perfume of blue and black fruits, wet stones, flowers, and incense. On the palate, the wine exhibits exceptional power and concentration, but this historic terroir has also provided a surreal lightness to the wine’s impression. Beautiful flavors, sensational depth, and abundant structure suggest this 2004 will not be close to full maturity for 8-10 years. It should last for four decades.Robert Parker | 94+ RPGood deep ruby. Currant, minerals and nutty oak on the nose. Lush, sweet and pliant on the attack, then more closed in the middle palate, with a chewy, rather serious texture and impressive density for the year. The black fruit flavors are complicated by minerals, dark chocolate and mocha. Finishes with a rather powerful tannic spine that will require a good decade of patience. I can envision the 2006 evolving in a similar direction.Vinous Media | 93+ VM