Yon Figeac 2015 St. Emilion Grand Cru Classe | Super-impressive – cellar 5+ years

92-95 Points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous: “The Yon Figeac 2015 St. Emilion Grand Cru Classe is super-impressive while deep, unctuous and powerful.  The wine possesses remarkable intensity in addition to its voluptuous, flamboyant personality. Readers should expect a full throttle, modern Saint-Émilion built on concentration and textural richness. All the elements are very nicely balanced throughout.”

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Neal Martin, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate: “The Yon Figeac 2015 St. Emilion Grand Cru Classe has an intense bouquet of red berry fruit, pomegranate, and crushed strawberry, though I detected an herbaceous vein just underneath. The palate is medium-bodied with toasty tannin. This is quite bold and assertive in the mouth with plenty of grip on the oaky finish. It just needs to calm down once in bottle, the component parts needing to knit together convincingly.” 4/16 #224″

Serving Chateau Yon Figeac with Wine, Food, Pairing Tips

Chateau Yon Figeac is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift. The Yon Figeac 2015 St. Emilion Grand Cru Classe is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised and grilled dishes. Yon Figeac 2015 is also good when matched with Asian dishes, rich fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, and pasta.

Chateau Yon Figeac History, Overview

Chateau Yon-Figeac dates back to the summer of June 1881. As you can imagine from the name, Yon-Figeac was once a part of the massive Chateau Figeac estate, which gave birth to numerous St. Emilion estates that now bear the name of Figeac, as part of their name. Chateau Yon-Figeac is owned  Alain Castle, who also owns property in the Loire Valley region. Alain Castle purchased Chateau Yon-Figeac in 2005.

Chateau Yon Figeac Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The 25 hectare St. Emilion vineyard of Chateau Yon-Figeac is one of the largest vineyards in the Right Bank that is a true single parcel. The terroir is sand, clay and iron deposits. The vineyard of Yon-Figeac is planted to 86% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. The vines are old as well, at an average age of 35 years of age.

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Once the new owners took over, they began to add some Petit Verdot vines to the vineyard mix and increased the amount of Merlot as well, while decreasing the portion of Cabernet Franc.

To produce the wine of Chateau Yon-Figeac, vinification takes place in temperature controlled, stainless steel vats. On average, the wines are aged in 35% new, French oak barrels for between 12 to 14 months, depending on the quality and character of the vintage. Chateau Yon-Figeac produces close to 7,500 cases of wine per year. There is a second wine, Les Roches de Yon-Figeac. While it’s common in Bordeaux to produce a second wine, Yon-Figeac is one of the few estates in the Right Bank that also produce a third St. Emilion wine as well, Yon Saint Martin.

When to Drink Chateau Yon Figeac, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau Yon Figeac can be enjoyed on the young side with an hour or so of decanting. However, the wine is usually better with 2-4 years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. In the best years, the wine will best between 10-15 years of age after the vintage. Young vintages can be decanted for an average of 1 hour or so. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.