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. Drinking Window 2019 - 2036
Tasted by Jane Anson (at 67 Pall Mall, 14 Feb 2019)
Part of Anson: Comparing St-Emilion 1989 and 1998

Full medium ruby. Rich, new-oaky nose of raspberry, cedar and coffee shows an almost liqueur-like sweetness. Dense, sweet and refined, with superb richness for Figeac. Still quite youthful. Finishes with huge but fine oak-influenced tannins and excellent persistence. Drink 2008 through 2025.

Pretty 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). James Suckling

Drink 2008-2016
-Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide No 7

As 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

The 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.