Château Pavie 2020

This impressive version offers stunning fruit, with loganberry, blackberry and boysenberry compote notes moving through steadily, carried by a deeply embedded chalk spine that provides form, while flashes of violet, iris, Earl Grey tea, warm earth and dark tobacco slowly emerge throughout. The long finish shows nice underlying tension. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2027 through 2045.

Smooth from the get-go, still tense as you’d expect with a straight backbone, but the creamy texture is lovely with beautiful balancing acidity and overall suaveness. 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.

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.

50% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Franc, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon. Cask sample. Power and elegance combined. Deep purple-black colour. Intensity and complexity on the nose with dark fruit, cassis, mint and floral notes. Beautifully poised on the palate with smooth attack and persistent fruit and freshness. Powerful tannic frame but tannins really fine and no extraction. Long, persistent finish. Absolute precision. More than highlights the change in style. One of the best yet. (JL)

The 2020 Pavie, which oddly is the first time that I have tasted it in bottle (likely due to Covid), has a lovely touch of shucked oyster shell on the nose that is extremely delineated and focused. The oak is (again) seamlessly integrated, and the aromatics have real panache. The palate is medium-bodied with sapid black fruit, very fine tannins and perfectly judged acidity, with a spicier finish than the '22 l'Eglise-Clinet. This has great length and poise, and will give a lot of pleasure over many years. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

With a hue so dark, it is impossible to see through, the wine grabs your senses with its aromatic profile consisting of flowers, black plums, blackberries, black cherries, crushed rocks, licorice, smoke, blue fruits, espresso, mocha and oceanic fragrances. The wine is full-bodied, concentrated, mouth-coating and palate-staining, as well as vibrant, pure and intense. The practically seamless, opulent finish with its layers of sensuous, salty fruits stick with you for close to 60 seconds. This is one of the great vintages of Pavie! Drink from 2026-2060.

Deep ruby colour with opaque core, purple reflections. Fine oak spice, dark forest berries, fresh cherries, a hint of liquorice, nuances of tangerine zest, multi-faceted bouquet. On the palate complex, juicy, ripe plums, energetic tannins, chocolatey touch on the finish, dense and lasting, spicy nuances, a powerful food wine with length and mineral finish. Tasted by Peter Moser, 07.06.2020

Fine nuance and layers, modest oak and a great wealth of ripe dark fruit, fine spices, tobacco, and a very concentrated palate with bright freshness, copious layers of super-refined tannin, mouth-coating and extremely persistent, with abundant digest dark fruit and a tremendously long, powerful finish.

Pure perfection in red wine, the 2020 Château Pavie checks in as 50% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Franc and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, all raised in 75% new French oak. Absolutely incredible in every way, it has a sensational bouquet of crème de cassis, smoked tobacco, chocolaty oak, graphite, white truffle, and hints of flowers. Pure, full-bodied, and concentrated, with perfect integration of its fruit, oak, and tannins, it's one of those wines that needs to be tasted to be believed. Hats off to the Perse team for not following trends and for continuing to make a truly Grand Vin that offers a rare mix of power and elegance. Give bottles just 4-5 years and enjoy over the following three decades.

Kunz barrel sample 2021: (50% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Franc, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.82% vol. alcohol, production 31 hl/ha) Concentrated, deep, dark, complex bouquet: black cherries, cassis, dark chocolates, coal, graphite, licorice. Dense, multi-layered, powerful palate with plenty of fine tannins, a concentrated, masculine structure, dense dark fruit, varied, powerful aromatics, and a very long, dense, aromatic finish with lots of lingering flavors.

(50% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Franc, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.82% vol. alcohol, yield 31 hl/ha) Concentrated, deep, dark, complex bouquet: black cherries, cassis, dark chocolate, coal, graphite, licorice. Dense, multi-layered, powerful palate with plenty of fine tannin, a concentrated, masculine structure, dense dark fruit, varied, intense aromatics, and a very long, dense, aromatic finish with lots of afterflavors. 19/20 2030 - 2060

92-93

A very strong identity emerges in the resplendent 2020. It embraces a sunny, dark, profound character. We are enthralled by the restraint of this wine—so powerful and radiant—yet without any excess. The palate pushes the boundaries further in density, structured by majestic breadth. The limestone signature promises serene ageing for this 2020, built for long cellaring. The share of Cabernet Franc is gradually growing (34%) in the blend alongside Merlot and a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon, bringing added lift.

An extremely hedonistic bouquet—rich, perfumed, deep, and expressive—blending ripe, juicy fruit with a freshly herbal thread of aromatic herbs. Wonderfully complex. On the palate, the caressing texture, suppleness, and energy of this wine are outstanding. It fills the mouth with a gentle burst of fruit, kept in check by lovely minerality and a herbal freshness. Everything is in harmony, evolving toward a refined, soothing finish. An exceptional Pavie.

The nose is elegant and offers power (with finesse), depth (mastered / perfectly judged), a certain subtlety in its power, a lovely multi-layered profile and a fine, racy grain. A beautifully controlled power. We find notes of vibrant blackberry, bright little blue berries and, more slightly, blackcurrant, combined with touches of crushed redcurrant, hints of cornflower, star anise and lily, as well as fine varietal nuances (local biotope), spices, discreet minty hints, mocha and discreet notes of cubeb pepper. The palate is fruity, balanced and racy, offering juiciness, good definition, gourmandise, lovely smoothness, a fine grain, precision, a certain tension, great freshness, fine depth, elegance, fine substance and a discreetly contained profile. A beautiful delicacy with power. On the palate, the wine reveals notes of juicy/pulpy blackberry, vibrant blackcurrant and, more slightly, pulpy/juicy cherry, combined with touches of raspberry, hints of cornflower, violet, licorice (zan), tonka bean, as well as fine notes of caramelization, blond tobacco, discreet almost-sappy hints, a subtle touch of almost dried orange zest, and discreet hints of pepper. The tannins are precise, elegant, racy, structuring and offer a slight plushness. Very nice length and persistence on the palate. An imperceptible hint of coffee lingers in the background. A lovely wine that will undoubtedly reveal its full potential to those patient enough to wait 10–15 years.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2020 Pavie sashays out with flamboyant notes of black and red cherries, black raspberries, and juicy plums opening out to fragrant underlying scents of forest floor, Sichuan pepper, and rose oil plus a hint of lavender. The medium to full-bodied palate is tightly wound and super-intense, delivering very fine-grained tannins and beautiful tension, finishing long and minerally. This is gorgeous!

94–96. Barrel Sample. 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.