Château Figeac: Vineyards
To understand Château Figeac it is necessary to understand the different regions of the St Emilion appellation. Of all the premier grand cru classé estates most are located on the famous limestone côtes around St Emilion itself, with just two in the western part of the appellation named the Graves St Emilion, these two principal regions separated by a huge 1,200-hectare swathe of sandy vineyards. The Günzian graves de feu, the gravel after which Graves St Emilion is named, was borne here largely by the Isle and Dronne rivers and originates from the Quaternary period. The two estates located here sit on five mounds of gravel; two bear the vines of Château Cheval Blanc, the remaining three being entirely Château Figeac.
This distinction between the lower gravel and sand vineyards, and the more elevated vineyards of limestone and clay, goes back a long way. The very first edition of Cocks et Féret in 1850 lists them altogether, and in doing so they were reproducing the work of Lecoutre de Beauvais published in 1841, but in subsequent editions the region has been divided into sandy, gravelly and limestone terroirs, to some extent at least.
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