I attended a Figeac vertical tasting with Comte Eric D'Aramon in London in November. He admits he is going for an elegant, nuanced, style of Saint Emilion and doesn't really care what Parker thinks or says. In fact he revels in the criticism and wears it as a badge of honor because he has his devotees and can easily sell his wine at high prices.
However he does readily admit that he picked too early in 2000. I tried that wine last year and I really liked it, but the 2001 is better. As for his 2008 I thought it was an outstanding wine. At the vertical we tried 2010, 09, 08, 07, 06, 05, 04, 03, 98 and 86, and of the noughties' wines the 08 was probably my favorite because the 09 and 10 were noticeably heavier and bigger hitters and may have sacrificed some finesse.
However, the stars were 1998 and 1986, which demonstrated how well these wines age and develop. Having said that I had the 1982 twice last year and was disappointed on both occasions. At our 1982 horizontal it was the weakest link and outclassed by Cheval Blanc.
http://www.decanter.com/wine-events/pic ... #slideshow