Château Pavie 2010

What fun, excitement and joy it will be to compare the four perfect wines Perse has made in 2005, 2009, 2010 and, of course, 2000, in about 25 years. This wine is truly profound Bordeaux. Everything is in place – remarkable concentration and a beautiful nose of cedar and ripe blackcurrant and blackberry, with some kirsch and spice box in the background. Lavishly rich, with slightly more structure and delineation than the more Rabelaisian 2009, this wine does show some serious tannins on the finish and comes across as incredibly youthful. Of course, it’s five years old, but it tastes more like a just-bottled barrel sample than a 2010. In any event, this wine is set for a very, very long life and should be forgotten for at least another decade. Drink it over the following 75 or more years.

A brick house, still rather tight, with loads of apple wood and juniper flavors holding the core of red currant, blackberry and bitter plum fruit in check. Offers ample grip through the finish, with a mouthwatering chalk, graphite and tobacco spine. A huge wine that hasn't budged and probably won't for some time. -- Non-blind Pavie vertical (March 2017). Best from 2025 through 2050. 7,083 cases made.

Bright rose petals and dark fruit with hints of liquorice and tobacco. Smooth, sumptuous and heady, this feels both romantic and powerful. Massy tannins are softened by layers of strawberry and cherry, with salty, wet-stone edges and chalky grip. Cinnamon and clove add spice and lift. Excellent freshness, razor-sharp definition, ripe and structured.

This is truly exceptional with such freshness, firmness and focus. Full body, incredibly tight tannins and a lengthy finish. Such power and elegance at the same time. The beginning of a new era for Pavie.

The 2010 Pavie is a vintage I have not encountered since just after bottling. It is very deep in color, offering intense aromas of blackberry, graphite, and cassis on the nose that, like the 2000, are very Pavie. There is something a bit more tertiary about the 2010, perhaps a little less polished. The palate has a huge structure, a behemoth with firm tannin, dense black fruit, all redeemed by fine tension threaded from start to finish. As I remarked when I tasted the 2010 from barrel, it is a long-term wine that will require 15 to 20 years in bottle. I have no reason to change that view. Tasted at a Berry Brothers & Rudd Pavie dinner.

This is developing in all the right ways. Full-bodied, rich, opulent, and voluptuous, as well as fresh, mineral-driven, long, complex, and palate-staining, the wine offers incredible levels of intensity along with depth, weight, and energy. On the dark side of the red berry spectrum, the tannins are refined and the finish shows impressive staying power, lingering for at least 50 seconds. Still relatively primary, another decade of age will add a lot to the experience.

Deep dark ruby, with a firm color core, purple reflections, and a lightening rim. Black berry fruit underlaid with sweet spices and a fine berry jam note. Subtle hints of nougat and candied orange zest. The palate is powerful and substantial with great fruit sweetness, firm but very well integrated tannins and impressive length. Great signs for long development. A testament to the tremendous class of the terroir of this resurgent growth.

The 2010 Château Pavie is straight-up magical, and while it matches the 2000, 2005, 2009, and 2015, it has a style all its own. (It’s probably most similar to the 2005, yet even more tannic and backward.) Checking in as a blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon from tiny yields of 26 hectoliters per hectare, it’s still ruby/plum-colored and has a powerful, inward bouquet of blackcurrants, smoked earth, graphite, chocolate, and white truffle. Deep, powerful, and massive on the palate, yet also incredibly delineated and focused, it’s shed just a touch of the baby fat it had in its youth and still needs another 4-5 years to hit prime time. Given its depth of fruit, flawless balance, and both purity and freshness, it’s going to be a 75- to 100-year wine.

70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. 28 hl/ha. 14.5% ABV. Deep, dark purple with violet highlights. Floral, straightforward bouquet, multi-layered yet still quite reserved, beech notes, wild raspberries and red cherries, all blended with a delicate touch of cherry and mocha. Dense on the palate, well-shaped with rounded tannins, many fruit facets, malt, chocolate and candied sugar nuances in a long, lofty finish. The tannins call for at least 15 years of bottle age.

70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. 28 hl/ha. 14.5% vol. Deep, dark purple with ruby and violet highlights. The bouquet is floral and precise, multilayered yet still quite reserved, with beech notes, wild raspberries and red cherries, all mingled with a delicate touch of morello cherry and mocha. Dense on the palate, well-shaped with rounded tannins, once again unfolding fruit in all its facets, with nuances of malt, chocolate and rock candy in the long, elevated finish. The tannins call for at least 15 years of bottle age.

(70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28 hl/ha) Concentrated, opulent, spicy bouquet, dried fruits, mocha, cherry compote, chocolate, prunes. Concentrated, massive palate with lush fruit, lots of tannin, tightly woven structure, sweet, opulent aromatics, powerful, sweet, very long finish with cedar, graphite, currants. 19/20 2020 - 2050

Opaque garnet-black in color, the 2010 wows as it erupts from the glass with explosive notes of plum preserves, baked cherries, and crème de cassis, leading to hints of sandalwood, tree bark, menthol, and Chinese five spice. The full-bodied palate is laden with black fruit preserves and exotic spices, supported by ripe, rounded tannins and amazing tension, with lingering anise and mineral notes on the incredibly long finish. It is delicious now, but will be better with 5–7 more years in bottle.

In the vein of the 2009, with tight, slightly aggressive tannins and good concentration.

Deep purple color. What intensity and complexity in this bouquet! Whether in terms of spices, candied notes or freshness, everything stands out clearly. Inviting notes of prunes, blackcurrant, raspberries and gingerbread. The same holds on the palate; the attack is compact, powerful and juicy, while the tannins are dense and appear late. Beautiful harmony between the tannins and the acidic structure. Intensely fruity, persistent finish. A wine that can already be enjoyed but is only at the start of its career. It has a few decades ahead of it.

Logo on the cork: inverted T (Trescases) Tasted blind, not decanted. Across four tastings recorded in the history, this bottle keeps seesawing. Dark color, intense and still youthful. Precise on the attack, juicy mid-palate and rather complex, the wine develops both suave and tight. The finish is long, but the share of oak is too prominent.

91-93 This feels very juicy, the fruit almost over-ripe. There is a generous new world feel to it, very opulent, super-rich. Open black plum and damson fruits push through the dark, perfumed tannins.