2012 Chateau Pavie
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S$58495
Vintage: 2012
Region: Bordeaux, St. Emilion
Country: France
About Winery
The origins of the estate go back a long way. Vines have been cultivated on the slopes of what is now Château Pavie since the 4th century. Owned by Chantal and Gérard Perse since March 1998, Château Pavie, Premier Grand Cru Classé "A," boasts one of the finest terroirs in Saint-Émilion.
Château Pavie is renowned for the structure and elegance of its wines, which are the result of a harvest that is contained within yields that are lower than the average for the appellation, in order to reveal all the nuances of this exceptional terroir.
The estate
The origins of the estate go back a long way. Vines have been cultivated on the slopes of what is now Château Pavie since the 4th century. Owned by Chantal and Gérard Perse since March 1998, Château Pavie, Premier Grand Cru Classé "A," boasts one of the finest terroirs in Saint-Émilion.
Château Pavie is renowned for the structure and elegance of its wines, which are the result of a harvest that is contained within yields that are lower than the average for the appellation, in order to reveal all the nuances of this exceptional terroir.
The vineyard
Château Pavie 2022 is a Saint-Émilion wine made from a single 42-hectare vineyard. Situated to the south-east of the Saint-Émilion hillside, the vineyard is spread over three levels, with vines that are on average 34 years old. The "plateau" (85 metres above sea level) is composed of clay-limestone soil above asteriated limestone and the "mid-slope" (55 metres above sea level) is composed of fine-textured brown clay-limestone soil. The "foot of the hill" is made up of sandy/sandy-clay and sandy-gravel soils.
Particular attention is paid to the vineyard, part of which has been the subject of a replanting plan that includes raising the trellising to increase the leaf area, specific pruning according to the age of the vines, thinning and leaf removal.
Winemaking and ageing
Hand-picked and sorted. Vinification in temperature-controlled wooden vats. Malolactic fermentation is carried out in barrels, as is ageing (75% new barrels, 25% one-wine barrels).
Blend
Château Pavie 2022 is a blend of Merlot (52%), Cabernet Franc (30%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (18%).
98 points Jeb Dunnuck
Bottled under a black label to celebrate Pavie’s addition to the Grand Cru Classé “A” classification, the 2012 Chateau Pavie is a brilliant wine, and readers with bottles in their cellars are in for a treat. From a bottle purchased in the US, this deep purple-hued beauty takes plenty of air (it showed best the day after opening) to show at its best yet offers incredible notes of blackcurrants, blackberries, scorched earth, graphite, leafy herbs, violets, and background oak. Rich, full-bodied, and powerful, it nevertheless has incredible elegance and purity, with loads of silky tannins, terrific freshness, and a blockbuster finish. I continue to believe 2012 was a great, great vintage for the Right Bank, and this just adds fuel to the fire. This beauty is approachable today yet will mostly likely merit a triple-digit rating in 5-7 years and will keep for 30-40 years, given its impeccable balance and depth of fruit. 98+ 
(6/2020)
94-96 points Wine Advocate
The full-bodied, opaque purple-hued 2012 exhibits a beautiful nose of mulberries, black cherries, cedar wood, high quality toasty oak, lead pencil shavings, crushed chalk and floral notes. This complex, authoritative, full-throttle Pavie possesses much more accessibility and precociousness than most vintages. It is another brilliant effort from proprietors Chantal and Gerard Perse. It should be drinkable in 8-10 years and last for three decades. From 47-year-old vines, Pavie, one of the largest estates in St.-Emilion (92 acres), has once again hit pay dirt with their 2012 Pavie. Yields were 28 hectoliters per hectare (which is slightly above the 26 hectoliters per hectare in 2010), and the harvest was exceptionally late. The tannins may be the sweetest of any young Pavie I have tasted since the 2001 (which the 2012 vaguely resembles).(94-96+) (4/2013)
94-96 points Wine Enthusiast
Barrel sample. This is a powerful wine which exhibits a change in style towards elegance in recent years. The palate has delicious Merlot fruitiness along with black-currant acidity and a dense structure. Fine minerality at the end with juicy acidity. (4/2013)
