Château Pavie 2016

This is a rather showy — and captivating — display of fruit, with waves of lush cassis, raspberry and plum reduction flavors flowing through with authority and grace while a swath of chalky minerality stays deeply buried throughout. Toasty, glistening with vanilla and apple wood notes, but the fruit has the oak bridle easily in hand. One of the Right Bank showstoppers of the vintage. Best from 2024 through 2040. 6,667 cases made.

Pavie dates to Roman times and has been ranked Premier Grand Cru Classé A since the 2012 Saint‑Émilion Classification. In 1998 Gérard Perse bought the estate for $31m. About 45ha are planted, mainly in a single vineyard block – unusual for Saint‑Émilion – at a peak of 110m, the highest in the appellation. In 2016 the blend was 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in 75% new oak. Georgie Hindle: Powerfully floral nose, rich and heady. Real purity and clarity to the fruit. Bold and well built; tannins to the fore but this has excellent fruit and a hint of exotic spice. Long minty finish, with medicinal and herbal notes. Vincenzo Arnese: Ripe, bold and intense, with structure and depth, and ripe aromas of prune and bramble. Good finish. There’s rich evidence of oak, with hazelnut and toasted wood notes. Arthur Coggill: Gentle nose, hints of wood spice, lacquer, damson and bilberry. The ripely sweet palate is backed by firm, really grippy tannins, almost chalky.

The enveloping amarena-cherry fruit clothes the huge tannin structure, but these are really fine tannins and, together with the acidity, they give the wine great vitality. Needs quite some time in bottle to resolve the tannins, but the balance is certainly there. Drinkable now, but best from 2025. Château Quintus vertical tasting. SP.

Inky in color, the wine is powerful, dense, concentrated, full-bodied and packed to the gills with its unique blend of flowers, crushed stone, smoke, licorice, espresso and very ripe plums and black cherries. Thick and rich, with a finish that does not want to quit, this attention-seeking beauty demands at least 10-15 years in the cellar before it's ready for prime time drinking.

Deep ruby, dark core, purple reflections, subtle brightening on the rim. Intense aroma reminiscent of black cherry, ripe plum, fine noble wood savouriness and some nougat. Juicy and elegant with fine fruit sweetness on the palate, ripe tannins, lively, mineral. Beautifully poised and balanced and with excellent ageing potential.

Ripe and glossy nose, more new oak, roasted coffee, smoke and tar with inky dark fruit, crème de cassis and kirsch. Very calcareous and mineral at the same time with liquorice root, ginger, wild berries, crème de cassis, still a bit on the extracted style but balanced with a huge potential. Intensely long and powerful finish lingering for a very long time.

Turning the dial up considerably, the 2016 Château Pavie leaps out of the glass with a thrilling bouquet of crème de cassis, toasty oak, graphite, white truffle, crayons, and flowers. A blend of 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon brought up in 85% new French oak (the new oak has been dialed back in recent vintages), this full-bodied Pavie is made in a more elegant, seamless style compared to prior great vintages, yet it still has brilliant depth of fruit and concentration, ripe, present tannins, a seamless texture, and an awesome finish.

60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38 hl/ha, 80% new barriques. Dense purple with a saturated core and a violet rim. Concentrated blackberry bouquet, followed by morello cherries and violets; on the second nose, rosewood, mocha, and light tobacco. On the powerful palate, a tight tannic frame that remains in balance thanks to its breed and power. Impresses on the long finish with red currants – a great Pavie with tremendous potential! It will gain further with time, but needs bottle age! 18.5/20

Kunz barrel sample 17: (60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38 hl/ha, 14.55% alc./vol.) Sweet, velvety, opulent, concentrated bouquet: black cherries, blackberry jelly, mint, pralines, mocha cream, redcurrant jam, nougat. Concentrated, massive, layered, aromatic palate with concentrated fruit, lots of tannins, an opulent, muscular structure, dense, powerful, sweet aromatics, and a very long, aromatic, dry finish with powerful afterflavors.

(60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38 hl/ha, 14.55% vol. alcohol) Sweet, velvety, opulent, concentrated bouquet: black cherries, blackberry jelly, mint, pralines, mocha cream, blackcurrant jam, nougat. Concentrated, massive, multi-layered, aromatic palate with concentrated fruit, plenty of tannin, an opulent, muscular structure, dense, powerful, sweet aromatics, and a very long, aromatic, dry finish with powerful afterflavors. 19/20 2025 - 2050

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2016 Pavie comes barreling out with bold notes of plum preserves, juicy blueberries, and Morello cherries followed by hints of Indian spices, dark chocolate, dusty soil, and iron ore. The full-bodied palate is jam packed with youthful black fruit preserves and spicy sparks, framed by firm, velvety tannins and amazing tension, finishing long and perfumed. This is still so young, it has hardly budged since bottling. Give it a good 6 years in bottle and drink over the next 50 years+.

With 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, Pavie 2016 offers a particularly velvety feel—very dense, of course, but also more finely structured than in previous vintages. A turning point? One cannot help but be charmed by the purity of the fruit, its deep blueberry-juice core tinged with oriental spices, and the restraint of its alcoholic power.

Small black fruits, blueberry, blackberry, a hint of vanilla. Fresh, lively, spicy, fruity palate with a very long finish. Opulent, velvety tannins, a touch of graphite, a subtle savory note, a truly great wine.

What colour, what depth. Intense purple. Pavie’s bouquet is an aromatic bomb, an olfactory firework display. Everything one could expect from Pavie is here: candied fruit, élevage notes, and chalky, fruity nuances. Pavie also indicates it needs air—an obvious point that has the merit of letting it appear from another angle after just a few minutes. I detect floral and chalky notes that slowly take the lead. They are supported by notes of black berries, morello cherries, and spices such as pepper and cardamom. On the palate, it is clearly the terroir that takes over and, so to speak, sets Pavie on the right path: there is tension, verve, and freshness that completely erase the assumptions suggested by the bouquet. Pavie has character, minerality, and subtle tannins that ideally combine with the structure to confer both power and finesse across the palate. A great Pavie that teases the 2010. One to follow in its evolution, as it reveals itself in crescendo.

This release underlines this estate's change in style towards more elegant wines. While concentrated, the wine has stylish layers of black-plum fruit, beautiful acidity and freshness. Black-chocolate flavors are fully integrated into the rich tannins. This will develop into a great wine. Drink from 2025.