Château Pavie 2012

A seductive Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé « A » wine of finesse and creaminess

The estate

The estate's origin is very ancient. The vines have been cultivated on the slopes of what is today Château Pavie since the 4th century. Owned by Chantal and Gérard Perse since March 1998, Château Pavie, a Premier Grand Cru Classé « A », possesses one of the finest terroirs of Saint-Émilion.

Château Pavie is renowned for the structure and elegance of its Saint-Émilion wines, resulting from a harvest maintained at yields most suited to the terroir: 28 hl/ha.

The vineyard

The vineyard of Château Pavie consists of a single 37-hectare block, making it one of the largest Premier Grand Cru Classé estates of Saint-Émilion.

Located on the southeast of the Saint-Émilion hill, the vineyard stretches over three levels up the slope, with vines averaging around forty years old. The « plateau » (85 meters above sea level) consists of an argillaceous-limestone soil above starfish limestone, and the « mid-slope » (55 meters above sea level) consists of a fine-textured brown argillaceous-limestone soil. The « foot slope » consists of sandy / sandy-clayey soils with iron pan between 60 and 80 cm and sandy-gravelly soils.

Particular attention is paid to the vineyard, part of which underwent a replanting plan that includes raising the trellising to increase leaf surface, a pruning method specific to the vines’ age, a canopy thinning and leaf stripping.

The wine

The 2012 vintage marks a milestone in the estate’s history as it is the first Château Pavie vintage classified « A », 14 years after the estate was purchased in 1998 by Gérard Perse. On this occasion, the bottles are adorned with unique packaging in black and silver.

The vintage

A relatively mild winter was followed by a spring with significant rainfall (especially in April), leading to high downy mildew pressure before flowering. While summer began with humid conditions, August was hot and dry, favoring vineyard development and ripening.

Vinification and aging

Hand-harvested and sorted, the grapes are placed in 20 temperature-controlled wooden vats. Following a 36-day maceration, malolactic fermentation is carried out in barrels as is the aging. The allocation is 80% new barrels and 20% one-wine barrels.

Blend

This Château Pavie 2012 is the result of a blend of Merlot (60%), Cabernet Franc (25%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (15%).