Château Pavie Macquin 2019

Still smoky and shaped by its maturation in bottle; on the palate, highly refined and juicy, with its characteristic bitterness and minerality, well balanced by the fire. Excellent and full of character; but it needs a long time to age.

This unfurls as seductively as a cashmere scarf, offering black tea and incense notes amidst a lush wave of dark plum, fig and blackberry reduction flavors. The subtle inlay of charcoal, tobacco and sweet bay adds length and detail through the finish. Gorgeous. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2024 through 2038. 5,500 cases made.

Gorgeous ripe aromatic blackcurrants on the nose. Seriously expressive with sweet touches of milk chocolate – an element of Black Forest gâteau to this. Direct and linear on the palate, focused and precise with excellent clarity and minerality. You get the blood-iron, wet stone slate in both flavour and texture on the tongue against the high-toned cherry and redcurrant fruit. Lots of energy here; it’s almost holding back from being fully expressive. Great potential and a lovely finish with chocolate, minty freshness and liquorice spice.

Lots of roses and dark fruit, such as blackberries and brambleberries on the nose. Full-bodied, yet tight and poised, with real focus and firmness and seamless tannins that run the length of the wine. Minerality and persistence in a cool way. This is very serious for the vintage and for the cellar. Try after 2025.

The 2019 Pavie Macquin is exotic and beguiling right out of the gate. Succulent dark cherry, white truffle, leather, tobacco, blood orange, cedar and mint all meld together in the glass. As always, Pavie Macquin is defined by its sumptuous fruit, plush contours and total allure. Pavie Macquin is not exactly subtle, but it sure is delicious.

Full-bodied, concentrated, and loaded with ripe, very ripe, and perfectly ripe red and black fruits, flowers, spice, mocha, and smoke, it is intoxicating. Long, lush, rich, and supple, it combines density with lift, length, and complexity, making for an exciting tasting experience. The finish really holds on and expands as it lingers. Drink from 2025–2047.

Deep dark ruby, opaque core, violet tints, delicate bright rim. Intense liquorice and candied violets, fine cassis underlaid, some vanilla and tangerine zest in the background. Complex, taut, mineral texture, ripe tannins, red-fruit nuances, a salty terroir kiss, fresh and long-lasting, shows its class, great future potential.

Beautiful perfume of truffle, chalk, fresh dark fruit like cassis, blackberry and fine tobacco notes. The palate combines great concentration with vigorous freshness, perfectly rounded tannin, plenty of crushed dark berries and a very long lingering finish.

Kunz barrel sample 2020: concentrated, dense, velvety, fruity bouquet, strawberry jelly, chocolate cream, licorice, mocha, dried fruits. Opulent, powerful palate with dense, silky fruit, plenty of fine tannins, a dense, creamy structure, varied, sweet aromatics, and a long, powerful, fresh finish. Has room to improve.

Concentrated, dense, velvety, fruity bouquet, strawberry jelly, chocolate cream, licorice, mocha, dried fruit. Opulent, powerful palate with dense, silky fruit, plenty of fine tannins, a dense, creamy structure, varied, sweet aromatics, and a long, powerful, fresh finish. Can improve further. 18/20 2025 - 2050

Rich and deep in colour, this is inky damson, layered and luscious in its aromatics, both restrained and generous, performing the limestone magic trick of push and pull, giving and taking. Blackberry, blueberry and liquorice upfront, with tannins that are bristling and muscular yet well honed and discreet. As it softens through the mid-palate, creamy fruits arrive, and you relax for a moment before the limestone grip is turned on again. This will close up soon, as the 2016 has done, but right now it is singing with liquorice, dark chocolate, blackcurrant, turmeric, spiced black truffles, mandarin peel and slate. Totally lives up to its En Primeur brilliance. 50% new oak. Part of the outstanding vintages series within this vertical.

Energetic and elegant, with smooth tannins of subtle intensity. This is more about length and extension than a broad, enveloping style, which brings greater precision. A pure gastronomic wine—linear, marble-like, and of impressive depth.

The fruit shows remarkable intensity in this vintage, shaped by a generous nature, and it reveals itself in the luminous profile of Pavie-Macquin. Fortunately, the plateau’s limestone brings invigorating energy to the whole wine, which is built on very ripe fruit.

A rich, hedonistic nose of dark, very ripe fruit, fragrant and captivating. The palate has a lace-like finesse with crystalline definition, and it thus complements the nose for a highly accomplished and intriguing wine.

During our second meeting, after the En Primeur tastings, Pavie-Macquin was not very talkative; in other words, it was hardly inclined to open up and put forward cues that were difficult to interpret. So we met a third time to exchange with more pertinence. And it was well worth it. The bouquet begins by revealing nuances of red berries, mint, and garrigue. The wine shows a refreshing, incisive energy that pairs perfectly with the fine-grained tannins. All the guests are there, the table is set, all that remains is to finalize the finishing touches… in short, it’s worth waiting a little before tucking in 😉

The nose is fully controlled/precise, nicely racy, aromatic, complex, deep, and offers power with precision/finesse as well as a racy calcareous grain. It reveals notes of Sichuan pepper and blackcurrant, and more subtly wild blackberry, combined with small touches of red berries and lilac, fine hints of fleshy plum, a sense of place, as well as a subtle hint of star anise and a discreet almost roasted-herb note. The palate is fruity, balanced, elegant, racy, and offers accuracy, juiciness, a certain refined density, precision, freshness, a tangy backbone, and lovely finesse and power of grain. There is much delicacy, mastery, and a “sense of place” in this wine. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of juicy/pulpy blackberry, juicy blackcurrant, and more lightly violet, combined with touches of purple plum and wild raspberry, as well as fine hints of tonka bean, cornflower, licorice, vanilla, and a subtle (background) hint of almost sage. The tannins are elegant, precise, and delicate. Good length.

Dark, intense, beautiful purple color. Very aromatic nose, fruity, fresh, and truffle-like. Precise on the attack, very flavorful mid-palate, ample; the wine develops juicy and powerful, leading to a long, sappy and tasty finish, accompanied by a touch of austerity, even though the tannin is wrapped. Very long finish. Built to age.

The wine, from the vineyard on the top of the Pavie hill, is complex and rich. Solid tannins and dark fruits show strongly here with power and density. The weight of the wine is lightened by acidity that shines through this fine wine. Drink from 2026.