Figgins Family 2011 Estate Red - $124.90
"A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Merlot, the 2011 Figgins Estate Red is excellent in the vintage, with classic creme de cassis, lead pencil shavings, tobacco, bay leaf and toast giving way to a medium to full-bodied, elegant and seamless 2011 that has good concentration, plenty of sweet fruit and building tannin that emerges with more time in the glass. Classy, elegant and streamlined, it's already approachable, but will be better in another couple years and drink nicely through 2026."
- The Wine Advocate #213 93 points
About
The 2011 is the fourth vintage produced of this wine and this is only the second time it will be available in British Columbia. The Figgins family earned their fame with their pioneering work at Leonetti Cellars, Walla Walla's first and most venerated winery, one which you will have undoubtedly, heard of. However, this wine project was created with a slightly different philosophy in mind. According to the winery, Figgins was born from a vision to transform a phenomenal vineyard site, into a singular, estate grown non-varietal red wine blended from Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, and Merlot. The goal from the beginning has been to most highly elevate the potential of this special site through viticultural and winemaking wisdom.
"I believe the '11 FIGGINS to be one of our finest viticultural triumphs to date. Enduring the coolest summer we've had since '93 in Washington State, 2011 is a vintage that separated the men from the boys in the vineyard. Summer seemed a faint possibility, so we dropped yields early and often to enable us to achieve remarkable fruit density and weight to the wine. The wine leads with a gorgeous and pure nose of Crème de Cassis and dried flowers with a hint of dried herbs, spices, and savory marrow. On the palate the wine is so pure and balanced with a levity and lightness of being that we are rarely able to achieve in our warm, sunny climate. This wine is a classically elegant beauty with rich, docile tannins and exceptional purity of fruit. I'm really proud of this effort and what my team did to achieve it. This optimal drinking time for this wine is 2016-2026. It will age beautifully in your cellar for 25 years or better."
- Chris Figgins
Finca Allende was created in 1986 by the sister and brother team of Mercedes and Miguel Angel de Gregorio and is located in the town of Briones, which is situated in the heart of the La Rioja Alta. Since its creation, Miguel has strived to discover and showcase the excellent qualities of his vineyards and to showcase these qualities in his unique wines. Roughly translated, "Allende" means "further" which is the driving philosophy behind the wines. Gregorio wants to make the perfect Rioja and he strives to reach this goal through the marriage of the old and the new by focusing his production on traditional grape varieties and then ageing them in new French oak. Apart from their ripeness and structure, the Allende wines are vineyard based with focus on expressing Rioja's varied terroir. They estate owns 22 hectares of vines which is supplemented by long term growing contracts with a select group of other growers who are situated in Briones. The Allende Red is 100% Tempranillo that is aged for 13 to 14 months in French oak. The Allende Blanco is predominantly Viura with roughly 5% Malvasia. This wine is also aged in French oak for 14 months with the wine undergoing lees stirring during the first half of the ageing process to impart an extra layer of richness and complexity to the wine.