2010 Château Figeac, St Emilion, Bordeaux

35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot.

Deep colour to the rim. Dense, powerful and brooding. Layers of fruit with a gentle, smoky fragrance. Magnificent palate, layered, concentrated, but balanced. Powerful but refined tannins. Enormous length on the finish. Still so youthful so decant if opened now). Clearly, for the very long haul.

Drink 2022 - 2050

7,500 cases made.

This is very tight, showing a prominent roasted apple wood and bittersweet cocoa frame more today, though the core of dense currant paste, blackberry pâte de fruit, and plum sauce waits in reserve. Gorgeous singed spice, anise, and toasted fig bread notes flitter through the finish, though this needs some time in the cellar to resolve itself fully. It is a very distinctive, structured expression of St.-Emilion.

Best from 2016 through 2035.

Intense aromas of wet earth, leaves, sweet berries, and cinnamon follow through to a full body, velvety and dense tannins, and a long and flavourful finish. Opulent style. It's just opening now, but this shows lots of stuffing, even if it does tighten down on the palate—integrated and fine.

Drink or hold

Hold +2 years or carafe for 4 hours.

More weight through the palate than the 2009, with reserved but muscular and chalky tannins, this is concentrated, majoring on black fruits, earning its reputation as a Left Bank-styled St Emilion. Beautiful curls of gunsmoke and violet flowers emerge as it opens, with fennel, black truffle and crayon. Give it a little longer in the bottle. Harvest September 27 to October 18, yield 33hl/h 100% new oak for ageing.

Drink 2025 - 2050

Based on a normal mix of close to equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, the 2010 is still youthful yet certainly offers pleasure today. Deep ruby/plum-hued with a classic Figeac nose of red and black currants, tobacco leaf, chocolate, and truffle, and it certainly seems more Médoc than Saint-Emilion. Beautifully balanced on the palate, it's medium to full-bodied and has silky tannins, a terrific mix of both richness and freshness and an overriding sense of elegance. It's a gorgeous Figeac just coming into its own, with another two decades of prime drinking ahead of it.

Drink 2021 - 2041

Deep garnet coloured, the 2010 Figeac bursts from the glass with gregarious scents of baked blueberries, black cherry compote, and chocolate box, with hints of camphor, pencil lead, and iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has beautifully ripe, velvety tannins and bold freshness that support the generous fruit, finishing long and layered.

Drink 2020 - 2047

The 2010 Figeac has a deep hue. The nose is quite introverted at first, with dark berry fruit, incense, and touches of fig and mulberry. The palate is beautifully balanced with a fine bead of acidity, gorgeous pure fruit, mulberry, and dark plum, gentle considering the vintage. This 2010 has softened in the last couple of years, gaining depth towards the finish. Very persistent—this is just beginning to show what it is capable of.

Drink 2023 - 2050

Many 2010 St-Emilion are over the top, with high alcohols, but not Figeac. The nose is starting to evolve, with lush blackcurrant and mint aromas, and hints of bacon and liquorice. Sleek and concentrated, the wine still shows admirable freshness. It's assertive and peppery, has power and spice, and its long, majestic finish is sustained by its fine-grained tannins.

Drink 2023 - 2040

As it was in 2009, this is one of the top reds on the Right Bank. After last year's miscalculation, I only hope the price is a little more sensible. The Cabernet Sauvignon at the core of the wine is what makes it so special, giving it rigour and structure for the Merlot and Cabernet Franc to adorn. The wine was even better on the second tasting: fine, grassy, yet concentrated.