2016 Chateau Pavie - St. Emilion Grand Cru Classe

Decanter.com – 95 pts – GH, VA, AC: *Pavie dates to Roman times and has been ranked premier grand cru classé A since the 2012 St-Emilion Classification. In 1998 Gérard Perse bought the estate for $31m. About 45ha are planted, mainly in one single vineyard block – unusual for St-Emilion – 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 at the fore but this has excellent fruit and a hint of exotic spice. Long minty finish, medicinal and herbal notes. Vincenzo Arnese: Ripe, bold and intense, has 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.* - 03/2023

Falstaff Magazin - 97pts - PM: *Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, fester Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung, intensives Aroma nah an schwarzen Kirschen, reife Zwetschken, feine Edelholzwürze, etwas Nougat. Saftig, elegant, feine Fruchtsüße, reife Tannine, lebendig, mineralisch, alles sitzt am rechten Fleck, ein Klassewein mit sicherem Reifepotenzial.* - 05/2017

WeinWisser – 18,5/20pts - GL, TW: *60 % Merlot, 22 % Cabernet Franc, 18 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 38 hl/ha, 80 % neue Barriques. Dichtes Purpur mit satter Mitte und lila Rand. Dichtes Brombeerbouquet, gefolgt von Schattenmorellen und Veilchen, im zweiten Ansatz Rosenholz, Mokka und heller Tabak. Am kräftigen Gaumen mit straffem Tanninkorsett, welches aber auch hier dank der Rasse und Power in Balance bleibt. Besticht im langen Finale mit roten Johannisbeeren – ein grosser Pavie mit gewaltigem Potenzial! Der wird noch zulegen, braucht aber Flaschenreife! 18.5/20.*

JancisRobinson.com – 18,5/20pts – JR: *Tasted blind. Exceptionally deep. Very light nose. Rich and luscious and confident. Really almost OTT but with everything in there for a long life. Extremely youthful but with exuberance and all tucked away for a long life. Inky.* - 05/2022

JamesSuckling.com - (97-98)pts - JS: *This is a really fantastic PM! The licorice, fresh mushroom, sous bois and stone character is so exciting. It’s full and very layered with exceptional depth and length. Compressed and focused. Pure silk.* - 04/2017
~~~
JamesSuckling.com - 100 pts - JS: *Spectacular aromas of crushed berries, such as blueberries and raspberries. Fresh flowers with hints of sandalwood. Exotic. Saturated palate of so much fruit, yet remains agile and energetic. Great length and texture. Fills your mouth. This needs time, but a classic. Twin brother of the perfect 2015.* -12/2019

Vinous.com - (97-100) pts - AG: *Seamless, sumptuous and super-expressive, the 2016 Pavie is a real head-turner. It will be years before the 2016 is ready to show all it's got. Even so, it is an absolutely stunning wine. The 2016 is 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc, which is the most Franc that has ever gone into the Grand Vin. That gives the wine striking aromatic nuance to play off the exquisite, layered fruit. The 2016 is an exceptional wine by any measure. In a word: magnificent!* - 04/2017
~~~
Vinous.com - 98+ pts - AG: *The 2016 Pavie is simply magnificent. Gracious, perfumed and exquisitely beautiful, the 2016 has it all. I can't remember seeing a Pavie with this much translucent energy and nuance. Black cherry, plum, lavender, spice and menthol all infuse this explosive, young wine with tremendous character. In the glass, the 2016 is vivid, aromatically deep and full of saline-infused energy. It is without question one of the wines of the vintage. As it turns out Gerard Perse also opened the 2008. Although the two vintages (2016 and 2008) in question are quite different in style and quality, the trajectory Pavie has taken in recent years is evident. The 2016 is a thrilling wine. That's all there is to it. The blend is 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon. Tasted two times.* - 01/2019

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - (98-100) pts - NM: *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 Gérard Perse explained, this is a Pavie that has taken stock and shifted in direction in recent years, reflecting more of its exceptional terroir instead of winemaking. It has a very intense bouquet that is extremely well-defined and shrugs off that higher alcohol level. You can find the graphite vein courtesy of the Cabernet Sauvignon and the underlying tension, while a second bottle had a soupçon more florality. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent, ripe, supple tannins that gently caress the mouth. It feels beguiling and charming, totally different in style compared to say Cheval Blanc, offering a more sensual take on the 2016 growing season. It is a very impressive follow-up to the 2015 Pavie and may
surpass it once in bottle.* - 04/2017
~~~
Vinous.com - 98 pts - NM: *The 2016 Pavie, matured in 80% new oak, has a thrilling bouquet of layers of small black cherries, boysenberry, fig and a hint of licorice, all very well defined; the oak is nicely integrated. The medium-bodied palate offers ripe, sappy black fruit, grippy tannin, a smooth texture and crisp acidity toward the finish. This is a seamless Pavie, but backward compared to its peers, and it needs several years in bottle before it even entertains the prospect of drinking pleasure.* - 01/2019

Thewinecellarinsider.com – 99 pts – JL: *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.* - 04/2019