Château Figeac

A large Gallo-Roman villa belonging to the Figeacus family stood on the site of the present-day château as early as the 2nd century, and the property later became a seigniory held by the Decazes family and then, through marriage, the Carles family. Raymond Decazes rebuilt the château in 1586 after it was burnt down during the Wars of Religion. Marie Decazes's marriage in 1654 brought the estate to the Carles family, who enhanced the château's architecture; its most remarkable features include an elegant late-18th-century façade and the pillars of the great courtyard. In 1832 Countess Félicité de Carle-Trajet sold the first parcels of the larger Figeac estate following a reversal of fortune; today's estate occupies the heart of that former property, around the three gravel hills and the château. In 1892 Henriette de Chèvremont and her husband André Villepigue, Thierry Manoncourt's grandparents, acquired the estate on the recommendation of their friend Albert Macquin, an agricultural engineer known for his work against phylloxera, who then ran Château Figeac for ten years. Robert Villepigue, Thierry Manoncourt's uncle, created the label for the 1906 vintage that became the estate's hallmark. Thierry Manoncourt, an agronomy engineer, came to Figeac in 1947 and devoted the rest of his life to it, establishing the estate's distinctive mix of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. He married Marie-France Duboÿs de Labarre in 1956 and served as President of the Jurade de Saint-Émilion for 23 years. After Thierry Manoncourt (1917-2010), his wife Marie-France and their children continued his work. The Manoncourts' daughter Laure and her husband Count Eric d'Aramon ran the estate from the late 1980s until 2013, when the family appointed Frédéric Faye, who had joined Figeac as an intern in 2002 and become technical manager in 2010, as Managing Director.

• Family-owned since 1892, when Henriette de Chèvremont and André Villepigue, Thierry Manoncourt's grandparents, acquired the estate on the advice of agricultural engineer Albert Macquin
• Thierry Manoncourt (1917-2010) took over in 1947 and ran Figeac for more than 60 vintages, establishing its Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot balance
• Count Eric d'Aramon, married to the Manoncourts' daughter Laure, managed the estate from the late 1980s until 2013
• Frédéric Faye joined as an intern in 2002, became technical manager in 2010, and has been Managing Director since 2013

Members of the Manoncourt family run Château Figeac today alongside a professional management team. Marie-France Manoncourt, Thierry Manoncourt's wife, has been active at the estate since 1956 and is Honorary Chair, co-manager and co-owner. Their daughter Hortense Idoine Manoncourt, an engineer who graduated from the Angers School of Agriculture, is President of the Board and co-manager, and coordinates the estate's management. Another daughter, Blandine de Brier Manoncourt, a graduate of Sciences Po Bordeaux and a member of the Jurade de Saint-Émilion, is General Secretary and co-owner, focused on the estate's built and natural heritage, communication and legal protection. Frédéric Faye, an agricultural engineer trained at Bordeaux Sciences Agro, is Managing Director. Jean-Valmy Nicolas, a graduate of HEC and a former McKinsey consultant who is also co-owner and co-manager of a family estate in Pomerol, joined the management team in 2013 as co-manager. In the same 2013 reorganization, Michel Rolland (1947-2026), a Bordeaux oenologist and one of the original flying winemakers, succeeded Gilles Pauquet as consultant winemaker.

• Marie-France Manoncourt: Honorary Chair, co-manager, co-owner, active at the estate since 1956
• Hortense Idoine Manoncourt: President of the Board, co-manager, co-owner; graduate of the Angers School of Agriculture
• Blandine de Brier Manoncourt: General Secretary, co-owner; graduate of Sciences Po Bordeaux and a member of the Jurade de Saint-Émilion
• Frédéric Faye: Managing Director since 2013; graduate of Bordeaux Sciences Agro
• Jean-Valmy Nicolas: co-manager since 2013; HEC graduate and former McKinsey consultant, also co-owner and co-manager of a family estate in Pomerol
• Michel Rolland (1947-2026) succeeded Gilles Pauquet as the estate's consultant winemaker in 2013

Château Figeac was ranked a First Growth (Premier Grand Cru Classé) when the Saint-Émilion classification was created in 1955. The classification is revised every ten years; in 2012, four estates held Premier Grand Cru Classé A status: Angélus, Ausone, Cheval Blanc and Pavie. Angélus, Ausone and Cheval Blanc withdrew from the 2022 classification, and Figeac was the only estate promoted into the top tier, joining Pavie as one of just two Premier Grand Cru Classé A estates in a list of 85 that also named 12 Premier Grand Cru Classé estates and 71 Grand Cru Classé estates. The Manoncourt family said the result rewarded 'sustained work over many years, a strong identity, the exceptional qualities of our terroir, the excellent wines we produce each vintage, and our singularity within St-Emilion and Bordeaux' and fulfilled a dream of Thierry Manoncourt's, and Hortense Idoine-Manoncourt called it recognition of the work accomplished over several decades. At the time of the announcement in September 2022, Decanter reported Liv-ex data showing Figeac's average market price up 47% over the previous three years, with 2013, 2008 and 2005 its best-performing vintages over the previous year.

• Ranked a First Growth (Premier Grand Cru Classé) in 1955; promoted to Premier Grand Cru Classé A in the 2022 classification
• The only estate promoted into the top tier in 2022; Angélus, Ausone and Cheval Blanc (three of the four Premier Grand Cru Classé A estates from 2012) withdrew from the 2022 classification
• The 2022 list named 85 estates in total: 2 Premier Grand Cru Classé A, 12 Premier Grand Cru Classé, and 71 Grand Cru Classé
• Average market price up 47% in the three years to September 2022, with 2013, 2008 and 2005 the best-performing vintages over the previous year (Liv-ex data, as reported by Decanter)

Château Figeac sits in the heart of the Saint-Émilion area, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The estate spans 54 hectares (133 acres) in a single block, of which nearly 41 hectares (100 acres) are planted to vines; nearly a quarter of the property is left unplanted to preserve a high-quality living environment and a natural balance. The terroir is a geological exception for the appellation: three Gunzian gravel outcrops of quartz and flint, several metres deep, over a subsoil of blue clay, forming a patchwork of plots planted with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in roughly equal thirds, the balance Thierry Manoncourt established. He was the first to plant Cabernet Sauvignon in significant proportions on the Right Bank. The oldest vines date to 1921 and the average vine age is 35 years; 35% of the vineyard has been replanted in recent years following a detailed study of the soil, climate and vegetation, while conserving its specific character. The team practices massal selection on old vines and keeps a 0.65-hectare (1.5-acre) legacy plot holding a selection of clones of the estate's most remarkable vinestocks of all three varieties. The estate's own pages give two vinestock counts: 275,000 on one, and 260,000 in a quote from Frédéric Faye on another. Nearly 12 of the 54 hectares are preserved as natural areas with meadows, a lake, an arboretum, a bamboo plantation and a heath, and the estate's 54 hectares were listed as a natural wildlife reserve in 2013. Château Figeac committed to ISO 14001 certification in 2015 under the first Environmental Management System for the Bordeaux vineyard, and holds Level 3 HVE (High Environmental Value) certification.

• 54 hectares (133 acres) total, a single block, with nearly 41 hectares (100 acres) under vine; nearly a quarter of the estate left unplanted
• Terroir: three Gunzian gravel outcrops of quartz and flint over blue clay subsoil, planted to roughly one-third each of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot
• Oldest vines from 1921; average vine age 35 years; 35% of the vineyard replanted in recent years; a 0.65-hectare legacy plot supports massal selection
• Nearly 12 hectares kept as natural areas, listed a wildlife reserve in 2013; ISO 14001-certified in 2015 and Level 3 HVE-certified

The grand vin takes its character from the Gunzian gravel and blue clay terroir and the estate's unusual mix of grape varieties: Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon together make up 70% of the blend, with Merlot the remainder. A second wine has been made since the 1945 vintage, a decision by Thierry Manoncourt that made Figeac one of the first estates to produce one; sold as La Grange Neuve de Figeac until 2011, it was renamed Petit-Figeac from the 2012 vintage and is made solely from grapes grown on the Figeac estate. In 1970 the estate decided to vinify entirely in new barrels and to bottle entirely at the château. In 1971-1972 Thierry Manoncourt built an 1,800 m2 facility that made Figeac the third estate in Bordeaux to install stainless-steel vats, along with six large vaulted underground cellars. In 2021, after two and a half years of works, the estate inaugurated a new semi-underground winery of more than 5,000 m2 set into the hill, with two levels below ground and gravity-feed processes for vinification and maturing. At its center, eight custom-made, FSC-certified French oak vats stand in a circle, complemented by 40 truncated-cone stainless-steel vats designed for plot-by-plot and intra-plot vinification, plus a dedicated vat room for research and development. The wines then move under the hill to mature in two large underground barrel halls.

• Grand vin blend: Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon together 70%, Merlot the remainder
• Second wine made since the 1945 vintage (one of the first estates to make one); sold as La Grange Neuve de Figeac until 2011, renamed Petit-Figeac from the 2012 vintage
• 1970: decision to vinify entirely in new barrels and bottle entirely at the château; 1971-1972: new facility made Figeac the third Bordeaux estate to use stainless-steel vats
• 2021: new gravity-feed winery of more than 5,000 m2 inaugurated, with 8 custom French oak vats and 40 stainless-steel vats for plot-by-plot vinification, plus an R&D vat room

Wine Enthusiast's Roger Voss scored the 2018 vintage 100/100 in an article on the character of Figeac's three grape varieties and the conditions of that vintage, published as 'The Making of a 100-Point Wine'; the 2017 vintage was included in Wine Spectator's Top 100, and the 2019 vintage recorded an average critic score of 98.38/100 on Global Wine Score. As of 2020, Figeac held a place in the top 50 of the Liv-ex Power 100, a ranking of the fine wine market's most powerful brands, for the third year running.

• Roger Voss of Wine Enthusiast scored the 2018 vintage 100/100
• The 2017 vintage was included in Wine Spectator's Top 100
• The 2019 vintage averaged 98.38/100 across critics on Global Wine Score
• Figeac ranked in the top 50 of the Liv-ex Power 100 for the third consecutive year as of 2020

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.chateau-figeac.com/en/, https://www.chateau-figeac.com/en/the-place/, https://www.chateau-figeac.com/en/the-builders/, https://www.chateau-figeac.com/en/the-wine/, https://www.chateau-figeac.com/en/lovers/, https://www.chateau-figeac.com/en/made-to-measure/. Secondary sources: Les Vins de Saint-Emilion (the appellation body), https://vins-saint-emilion.com/en/welcome-in-the-vineyard/the-2022-classification/; Decanter, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/st-emilion-2022-classification-promotes-chateau-figeac-to-premier-grand-cru-classe-a-487144/ (8 September 2022); The Drinks Business, https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2026/03/wine-world-mourns-wine-legend-michel-rolland/ (23 March 2026). Last verified 2026-10-12. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs; where two pages on the producer's own site disagree, both figures are given (see conflicts.json).