In Bond Fine Wine. 2016 Château Pavie, Saint Emilion, Bordeaux, France. Premier Grand Cru Classé A • Red Bordeaux in 6x75cl. Top critic score: 100/100 (LPB). Drinking window: 2025–2070. Sold in bond by Albany Vintners, independent fine wine merchants.
Château Pavie was revitalised under the late Gérard Perse, whose vision and relentless pursuit of quality elevated the property into the very highest echelon of Bordeaux. Perse acquired the estate in 1998 and oversaw a remarkable reinvigoration of both vineyard and cellar, turning Pavie into one of the most powerful, sought-after and critically acclaimed wines on the Right Bank, rivalling Ausone and Cheval Blanc. At the heart of Pavie’s greatness is its extraordinary terroir: magnificent clay-limestone soils spread across the celebrated Saint-Émilion limestone plateau on south-facing slopes above the Dordogne. This rare combination of limestone bedrock, elevation and superb exposure gives the wines their signature union of richness, freshness and striking mineral tension. Today, Pavie is famed for producing deeply layered, intensely complex wines of black cherry, cassis, liquorice, ceda…
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW (LPB) — 98–100/100 · Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com, 30/11/2018
A barrel sample, the deep purple-black colored 2016 Pavie comes rolling out of the glass with the most wonderfully sensuous nose of violets, red roses, black tea and wild blueberries over a core of baked plums, blackberry compote, star anise and cloves plus touches of cinnamon stick and underbrush. Full-bodied and super concentrated in the mouth, the palate is built like a skyscraper with a solid…
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW (LPB) — 100/100 · Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com, 29/03/2019 · Drink 2021-2060
The 2016 Pavie a blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc. Very deep purple-black in color, it needs a little coaxing to begin, slowly unfurling to reveal a fragrant perfume of violets, chocolate-covered cherries, crushed blueberries and eucalyptus over a core of preserved plums, kirsch, black raspberries and creme de cassis plus hints of licorice and chargrilled meat. Full-bodied and built lik…
Neal Martin (NM) — 98–100/100 · Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com, 28/04/2017 · Drink 2026-2060
The 2016 Pavie is a blend of 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon cropped at 38 hectoliters per hectare between 10 and 20 October. The alcohol this year is 14.55%, and it is matured in 80% new oak and 20% one-year-old wood. As G'rard Perse explained, this is a Pavie that has taken stock and shifted in direction in recent years, reflecting more of its exceptional terroir inste…