Château Pavie - Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2009

Wine Advocate

92 / 100

byNeal Martinthe1/1/2013

Served blind at the Southwold 2009 tasting. The Pavie ‘09 has a lovely ripe bouquet with blackberry and dark plum fruit. It exudes restraint and class. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp acidity, a lovely citrus fruit but with a slightly baked quality towards the finish. Still, overall this is a lovely Saint Emilion, one that stylistically surprised a few experienced palates when its identity was revealed. I think it will merit a higher mark in the future. Tasted January 2013. (92+ points)

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

96 / 100

byStephen Tanzerthe7/31/2012

(a blend of 70% merlot, 20% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon): Deep saturated ruby, one of the darkest wines of the vintage. Vibrant nose offers scents of blackberry, blueberry, minerals, dark chocolate, violet and garrigue. Lush, superconcentrated and voluminous, with plenty of energy to give shape to the mouthfilling dark fruit, dark chocolate, cedar and crushed rock flavors. This huge yet silky wine finishes with powerful fine-grained tannins and outstanding palate-staining persistence. I'd wait a good ten years before pulling the cork. A great vintage for Pavie, and one of the most impressive 2009s I've tasted.

Wine Spectator

98 / 100

byJames Molesworththe6/30/2012

This is massively rendered, with powerful notes of dark fig, currant and blackberry fruit intertwined with ganache, maduro tobacco and tar. Yet the overall impression is both polished and driven, with a buried graphite edge and lingering spice notes that hint at the reward for extended cellaring. It's amazing to see the results when ambition and execution are equal. Best from 2020 through 2040. 7,080 cases made.

Wine Advocate

100 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe2/29/2012

Bottled the week before I arrived, the 2009 Pavie appears to have barely budged since I tasted it two years ago. Many experts consider this phenomenal terroir to be nearly as great as that of Ausone. Made from a classic blend of 60-70% Merlot, 20-25% Cabernet Franc and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, this inky/blue/purple-colored blockbuster reveals wonderful notes of blackberries, crushed rocks, roasted meats, spring flowers, cedar, blueberries, graphite and a hint of vanillin. With extravagant fruit and high extract as well as a hint of minerality, this structured, massively intense effort is typical of all the luxurious, perfect or nearly perfect Pavies produced under the Perse regime (which began in 1998). While built for 40-50 years of cellaring, the softness of the vintage and its flamboyant style is slightly less apparent in the 2009 Pavie than in some of the other Perse wines. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050+.

Le Figaro

96-98 / 100

byBernard Burtschythe6/30/2010

La concentration est toujours aussi impressionnante avec un vin corpulent et athlétique, mais l’ensemble est doté de tannins extraordinairement fins et le terroir lui donnera dans quelques années élégance et finesse comme on peut le constater dans les 1998 et même autres 2003. La robe est impressionnante et le nez encore fermentaire. En bouche, le vin est souple et rond avec de superbes tannins fins, le vin est bouleversant par sa grosse matière et sa masse tannique, il possède beaucoup de potentiel sans compter sa superbe finale très goûteuse. 70 % merlot, 20 % cabernet-franc, 10 % cabernet-sauvignon.

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

94-97 / 100

byIan D'Agatathe6/30/2010

(a blend of 70% merlot, 20% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon; 28 hectoliters per hectare; 14.5% alcohol; 80% new oak) Bright saturated ruby with hints of inky highlights. Black fruits, licorice, coffee and oaky torrefaction on the nose, with menthol in the background. Quite tightly wound in the early going, with brisk acids framing the dense, rich flavors of cassis, coffee, minerals, truffle and bitter chocolate. This full-bodied wine shows a minty reserve, finishing very firm but not hard or dry, with a solid tannic spine. The slowly building, very long finish features subtle flinty and floral nuances, and a pronounced smoky oak component. This Pavie continues the recent trend toward somewhat less massive wines, and scaling back somewhat on the percentage of new oak appears to have been the right move.

La Revue du Vin de France

19-20 / 20

the5/31/2010

Nez de fruits noirs très expressif, bouche hyper puissante, remarquablement concentrée et pleine en finale, Pavie a joué le style qui le démarque désormais de tous les premiers de Saint-Emilion : associer à la marque d'un grand terroir le maximum de puissance. Très grand vin. Le terroir (sol et exposition) apporte un soyeux remarquable.

Wein Wisser

19 / 20

byRené Gabrielthe5/17/2010

70 % Merlot, 20 % Cabernet Franc, 10 % Cabernet Sauvignon, Ertrag: 28 hl/ha. Extrem dunkles Purpur mit lila und violetten Reflexen. Unerhört dichtes, kleinbeeriges Maul- und Preiselbeerbouquet, darin Amarenakirschen, ein Hauch Kaffee und parfümierte frische Kräuternoten. Am Gaumen sehr konzentriert, fette, reife, schon recht runde Tannine. Ein massiver Pavie mit viel Charakter, der mindestens 10 Jahre brauchen wird, um überhaupt einen Teil dessen zu zeigen, was wirklich in ihm steckt. 2020-2055

Le Point

16,5 / 20

byJacques Dupontthe5/6/2010

Fruits rouges, épices, grillé, bouche ronde, veloutée, puissante, tanins un peu durs en deuxième séquence, puissant, tendu, serré, beaucoup de tanins, du fruit. La finale est toujours un peu raide, mais elle suit un première partie harmonieuse et savoureuse. O=2017 G=20 ans

TAST

18,5 / 20

by Bettane & Desseauvethe4/30/2010

Très équilibré et sans chercher à démontrer sa supériorité, Pavie 2009 s’avance en père noble, d’une sûreté de constitution impressionnante, d’un équilibre quasi parfait : vin harmonieux et pur, tanin fin, longueur suave, allonge brillante, noblesse raffinée.

Wine Enthusiast

95-97 / 100

byRoger Vossthe4/30/2010

A super-rich wine, but one that has managed to retain a superb balance. It is powerful, dense and concentrated, but there is also complexity from the wonderful juicy fruits.

Falstaff

95-97 / 100

byPeter Moserthe4/30/2010

Süße dunkle Frucht, Heidelbeerkonfit, feine Lakritze, Cassisanklänge, Orangenzesten, Gewürze, Nougat. Stoffig, reife Fruchtnuancen, Rasse und Frische, mineralischer Charakter, schokoladige Nuancen im Abgang, sehr lang.

Wine Advocate

96-100 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe4/28/2010

Another brilliant effort from Gerard Perse, this great vineyard (now just over 90 acres in size with the average age of the vines 45 years) was cropped at 28 hectoliters per hectare. It obviously missed all the damaging hail in mid-May of 2009, and was harvested between October 5 and 15. Everything here is done with extraordinary gentleness and precision. The result is a powerful, full-bodied, remarkably intense wine that is black/purple in color. It will require considerable patience, much like 2000 and 2005. It displays enormous creme de cassis and boysenberry fruit with some cherries, spice box, and crushed rock in the background. It is intense, with loads of minerality, huge extraction, massive power, yet again, the vintage character seems to have given it a freshness and vibrancy despite the wine’s obvious viscosity. The minimum patience required is at least a decade, as this is another 40-year wine from Gerard Perse. (Tasted five times.) Drink 2020-2060.

Periodic Review of Wine

97-100 / 100

byAlan Duranthe4/28/2010

The fully-rimmed, opaque purple colored Pavie is another crowning achievement for Bordeaux. It is every bit as capable as Gérard Perse's magnificent 2005, and his super 2003. The sensationally complex aromatics boast seared beef juices of a la plancha, scorched earth, cassis, blueberry, stone-dust, pain grillé, and spice-mix. While massive, fresh and pure, it shows tremendous size to the potent fruit along with amazing richness, a full-body, and density. The symmetry of this Pavie is stunning considering its expansiveness of silky-fruit. This is not a heavy wine. You cannot deny that this is a brilliant achievement in winemaking. It will prove to last close to four decades. Maturity period 2018-2040+

Anthony Rose

92-94 / 100

byAnthony Rosethe4/26/2010

70% merlot, 20% cabernet franc, 10% cabernet sauvignon, 14.5% alcohol. Dense opaque saturated ruby colour, vivid, spicy, perfumed nose, rich sweet opulent fruit quality, very concentrated and dense black fruits with very firm, muscular tannins, lots of oak and big-boned structure. It's very chunky and dry on the finish and you have to ask the question when will this wine come round and become balanced. Undoubtedly impressive with excellent fresh and intense fruit quality. May just make the grade but needs a long time, five years plus, before it will become drinkable. Jury very much out for me. 92-94?

Wine Spectator

94-97 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe4/9/2010

Blackberry, black cherry, licorice and mineral. Full-bodied, with a big core of velvety tannins and rich fruit. Full throttle, and all there. Really massive. Blockbuster and more. Could be a tad overdone. But we will see in bottle.

Jancis Robinson

18 / 20

byJancis Robinsonthe4/8/2010

Blackish purple. Suddenly interesting! Very distinctive. Very appetising and succulent. All pleasure but with a promise of future development. So much more satisfying and succulent than its stablemates. Drink 2018-2035