Vintage
Heavy rainfall during the winter and spring helped our soils to build up great reserves of water, which ultimately turned out to be crucial. Indeed, after an early bud-break, owing to particularly mild winter and early spring temperatures, summer followed with drought conditions and scorching temperatures. Our vines coped well, and our grapes were able to ripen smoothly. In early September, cool and rainy weather conditions returned and enabled us to wait for the optimal moment to pick the grapes. Our grapes offered very good ripeness levels, particularly in the Cabernets, which were very pure and very elegant.
Growing methods
Pruning down to 8 buds for the old vines and to 6 buds for the young vines. Thinning, leaf-stripping. Grapes picked and sorted by hand.
Vinification
Temperature-controlled wooden vats. Malolactic fermentation in barrels.
Harvest
30/09 to 11/10
Aging
80% new oak , 20% one year old barrel for 18 months
Surface area
37 hectares
Average age of the vines
41 years
Blend
50% merlot, 32% cabernet franc, 18% cabernet sauvignon
Yields
29 hl/ha
Tasting notes
What joy it is to see how well the latest Pavie vintages have performed! All of them are superb.
Here’s the tasting notes for the 2019.
This Premier Grand Cru Classé A exhibits a deep, dense, opaque purple hue. What a wonderful colour! It displays the purple of a velvet gown. In the glass, it’s all brilliance and superb viscosity. An abundance of tears slowly trickle down the sides of the glass, leaving a slight blueish-purple trail.
Powerful, precise and very intense aromatics are expressed by this exceptional growth with notes of fresh fruit, crushed blackcurrants and black fruit jam coming through. Layers of fruit simply burst with flavour against a backdrop of very discreet oak.
What wonderful aromatic promise this wine holds!
Aeration then enhances these aromas and brings out all the complex expression of the magnificent limestone plateau at Pavie.
A touch of smoke, roasted coffee beans and subtle, elegant toasted notes then follow. What an amazing job they did in the ageing cellar!
The preservation of fruit expression has been enhanced in the last few vintages of Château Pavie. The fruit has a purity that lingers at the fore.
On the palate there’s a sensation of crispness, richness and opulence.
The wine then evolves, offering density and great finesse. The tannins are enveloped by the wine’s flesh, which brings softness and a velvety mouth-feel.
The mid-palate is gorgeous.
This is unquestionably a great wine, which is particularly satisfying as it embodies the quality of ripeness and fruit expression produced in Saint-Emilion’s great terroirs.
Last but not least, the wine’s finish is both fresh and enveloping.
Smooth, nicely coated tannins caress the palate. The quality of their grain is just right. Very fine vinification work was performed and demonstrates huge respect for the pedigree of this legendary terroir.
The freshness of this wine brings uplift to the whole and balances the dense flesh and the opulence.
Superbly crafted.
This wine promises to develop fantastically well with enhanced aromatic expression over its lifetime as a Premier Grand Cru Classé. Bravo!
Commentary by David Biraud
World's Best Sommelier Competition 2016 - Best Craftsman of France Sommelier 2004
