Chateau Pavie (6 Bottes in OWC Futures Pre-Sale) 2020
-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb - Decanter
-
Enthusiast
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
This opens up on your palate like a butterfly. It takes your breath away. Purity of blackberry, raspberry and black cherry. Lavender. Very, very impressive. Full and chewy with tight and polished tannins that go on and on. Energetic and structured. Crisp and vivid. Superb finish. Better after 2029 but a joy to taste.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Composed of 50% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Franc and 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2020 Pavie weighs in with an alcohol of 14.82% and a pH of 3.61. It is aging in French oak barriques, 75% new. Opaque purple-black colored, notes of plum pudding, blueberry pie and dark chocolate-covered cherries charge out of the gate, followed closely by hints of eucalyptus, star anise, unsmoked cigars and fertile loam with a hint of cedar chest. The full-bodied palate is built like a brick house, offering very firm yet wonderfully ripe, velvety tannins and seamless freshness to support the densely laden, muscular black and blue fruits, finishing very long and with loads of mineral-laced layers. As hedonic as it is cerebral this year, it is a beautiful paradox.
Barrel Sample: 97-99 -
Jeb Dunnuck
A wine that’s going to flirt with perfection, the 2020 Château Pavie is another magical wine from the genius of Gerard Perse and is 50% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Franc, and 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, brought up in 75% new French oak. The style here has unquestionably shifted from the blockbuster style of the 2000, 2005, 2009, and 2010 to a more elegant, refined style today that still brings plenty of fruit yet certainly stays more focused and precise. Is the new style better? I’m not sure, and there are certainly times I miss the opulence and decadence of the old style. Nevertheless, the wines today are magical Saint-Emilion that still show a rare mix of power and elegance. The 2020 is full-bodied and beautifully concentrated on the palate, offering a mouthful of cassis, black cherry, and mulberry fruits as well as a liqueur of rocks-like minerality, leafy herbs, and truffly earth. It doesn’t lack structure and has silky, polished tannins and flawless balance. Give bottles at least 7-8 years in the cellar and enjoy over the following 3+ decades.
Barrel Sample: 96-98 -
Decanter
Smooth from the get go, still tense as you’d expect with a straight backbone, but the creamy texture is lovely with a beautiful balancing acidity and suaveness overall. More calm and quiet than I was expecting, certainly not shouting but with clear depth and length to the chocolate, blackcurrant, liquorice and graphite. Detailed and nuanced, not trying too hard with energy and plumpness yet retaining a serious, savouriness that brings you back to Pavie and to the terroir with clear minerality in the lick of wet stone on the finish. Well constructed with care.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Big, bold and rich with solid black fruits and dense tannins that are definitely not shy. This solid wine is packed with structure. The fruit and freshness of the year are almost overwhelmed by the wine's richness. The wine is redeemed by the perfumed, balanced finish.
Barrel Sample: 94-96
Other Vintages
2022-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James - Vinous
- Decanter
-
Dunnuck
Jeb - Vinous
-
Suckling
James - Decanter
-
Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine - Decanter
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine - Decanter
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine - Decanter
-
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine
Established on the splendid “Côte Pavie”, the vineyard of Château Pavie was planted by the roman in the 4th century who first saw the incredible potential of this terroir. The history of the property goes back to 1850 when the Pimpinelle estate was owned by Mr Fayard and Mr Chapus who, thanks to their work, managed to obtain a gold medal at the Paris World Fair.
Less than ten years later, it was bequeathed to Ferdinand Bouffard, a Bordeaux merchant who, in twenty years, managed to build up a 50-hectare estate by buying up several properties. Just after the war, it was bought by Albert Porte when Ferdinand Bouffard passed away. By unifying the properties of Mr. Bouffard, he created Château Pavie (The name comes from a particularly sweet and juicy peach variety that was growing on the slope).
Alexandre Valette took over in 1943 and succeeded in raising it to the rank of Premier Grand Cru Classé B in 1955. His grandson, who had taken over in 1957, sold it to Gérard Perse in 1998 who is still the owner today. Thanks to major investments in both the vineyard and the cellar and to additional work towards maturity and precision, the latter managed to raise his estate to the rank of Premier Grand Cru Classé “A” during the revision of the classification of Saint-Emilion wines in 2012.
The magnificence of Château Pavie comes from its exceptional terroir (37 hectares planted in one block) made of limestone, clay and sand-clay, with over 80 meters of altitude variation offering a multitude of micro-terroir, with mostly south exposure, where the typical grape varieties of the right bank (Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon) achieve perfect maturity.