Figeac “won’t change” under Rolland

The style of Château Figeac will not change now that Michel Rolland has been taken on as a consultant, the château’s director Frédéric Faye has insisted.

Speaking at an en primeur tasting at the château in St Emilion last week, Faye told the drinks business: “We want Figeac to be the star, not Michel Rolland.

“We will be keeping the traditional style of Figeac the same, and don’t want to tamper with its signature elegance and freshness.

“It’s very important that we keep our personality rather than going with what the fashion of the time is, so it’s Rolland who has the challenge, not us.

“Michel Rolland has a huge amount of experience and we want to work with him to tweak some finer details, increase the precision, finesse and concentration and modernise the wine, but we haven’t taken him on to change the wine’s style.”

Rolland did the 2012 blend for Figeac and work with the château on the 2013 vintage this year, though Faye insisted that he was in the driving seat.

Michel Rolland hopes to elevate Figeac to premier grand cru classé “A” status

“I’m very much in control of things here and have the power to tell Michel to stop if I disagree with what he’s doing. We go back a long way,” he said.

Faye admitted that Rolland had been brought in to try to elevate the château to premier grand cru classé “A” status, having missed out on the accolade last year while Angélus and Pavie, both of which Rolland consults for, were promoted.

“Rolland is a challenger and is passionate about brining us up to premier grand cru classé “A” status. Personally, I want to see Figeac on sale around the world.

Meanwhile, Hortense Manoncourt Idoine, Figeac’s president and co-general manager told the drinks business that the estate was not up for sale.

“There’s a lot of interest in Figeac and I get offers to buy the château every day but it’s out of the question, we want to keep the estate in the family and pass it on to the next generation,” she said.

Like Faye, Manoncourt Idoine also wants Figeac to be better known around the world: “I want to shout louder about us and get our name out there. I think we have enormous potential,” she told db.

As for the 2012 vintage, Faye said it would be far closer in price to 2011 than 2010: “The market conditions are not great right now and we have to listen to what the market wants and price our wine accordingly, but Figeac is expensive to produce so we have a minimum level we are willing to go down to,” he said.