Ageing

Figeac is put into barrels at the beginning of the new year. For the last twenty or more years, the entire harvest has been put into new barrels , placing the château among the 12 leading Bordeaux vineyards to have opted for an investment that definitely pays off in terms of quality.

The new oak allows the wine to breathe, letting in minute amounts of air, with a considerable amount of evaporation. The wines takes on the aromas of oak, much sought after to bring to perfection a grand vin that already has a powerful structure and a high concentration of tannins.

Over a period of some 18 months, the particles in suspension gradually settle to the bottom of the barrels, and the wines are therefore "racked" (decanted from one barrel to another clean one) once every three months.

The final operation is "fining" using beaten fresh egg-whites, which act as a kind of light filter. Fining clears the wine of any remaining particles, making it ready for bottling.

All too often thought of simply as a mechanical process, bottling is in fact a delicate operation. Wine, like people, does not like to be treated roughly, which is why this process is given special attention at Figeac.

After blending in stainless steel vats, the wine goes down to the bottling line in the underground cellars by natural gravity flow.

No further filtering is performed, which means that the wine keeps all its tannins, that give the wine its complex flavours and fragrances.

No financial considerations enter into the choice of corks only quality counts, so there is fierce competition between suppliers. At the time of bottling, each cork is checked, so that only the best come into contact with the wine, forming a perfect seal.

Similarly, a great deal of thought has gone into the choice of bottle. The dark glass filters light, protecting the wine from ultra violet and infrared rays. Always seeking to improve quality, Thierry Manoncourt was closely involved in designing the "château" bottle adopted by the greatest estates in Bordeaux. However, demand was weak since the bottles were expensive, and so manufacturing ceased.

Once the wine is bottled, the bottles are kept in wooden cases in these same cellars, seven metres underground, at a constant, naturally cool temperature for a period of three months. Château Figeac is then ready to leave the estate.

A rough selection of the wines is made initially according to the plots from which they come and the age of the vines. A second painstaking selection is made after the fermentation. The finest wines go into the Grand Vin, which bears the name "Château Figeac ", since the estate is called Château de Figeac.

Thierry Manoncourt brought Château Figeac's second wine back into fashion in 1945. There had already been one as long ago as 1815. It is called "La Grange Neuve de Figeac" after a building on the estate that was rebuilt in the 16th century.