Château PAVIE

A well-established Châteaux in the Bordeaux appellation of Saint-Émilion, Château Pavie went through a huge period of change since the new owner, Gérard Perse purchased the estate in 1998. Perse, who also owns Château Monbousquet, Château Pavie-Decesse and  Château Bellevue Mondotte, brought with him a huge amount of expertise, and big plans to revolutionise the estate and the wine-making at Pavie. The change in style at Château Pavie has sparked controversy, with some preferring it to be made in a less concentrated style, the effort that Perse, along with the help of oenologist Michel Rolland, has continued to receive significant recognition. The most important of which was the elevation in classification of Pavie in 2012. In this new classification of Saint-Émilion, Château Pavie was elevated from Premier Grand Cru Classe "B" to "A", placing it alongside Château Figeac.

The vineyards of Château Pavie comprise 37 hectares and are made up of three completely different terroirs each with their own microclimates, which give the wine huge depth and complexity. The three different terroirs benefit from poor soils, good drainage - as all are located on slopes - and southern exposure. The three different terroirs consist of the Pavie limestone plateau, situated around 85 meters above the Dordogne with white lithic limestone (white limestone soil on "starfish limestone”).

Perse renovated the entire estate, with work finishing in 2000, and in 2011 he began a complete renovation of the winemaking facilities to an extremely modern state of the art facility which was completed in 2013.

The characteristics of the wine produced at Château Pavie changed dramatically when Perse took over control of the estate. Previously, the wine had been a much lighter style than what is being produced now, and arguably more subtle and elegant, with some saying that the pre-1998 wines had been a truer expression of Saint-Émilion. The style produced now is deeply coloured and flamboyant, with notes of dense dark fruits, chocolate, truffle and spice. Because of the intensity of this wine, it often needs around 15 years to mature. A comparison of pre and post-1998 vintages would show just how drastically different these two styles truly are. Pavie is a clear favourite of Neal Martin and Robert Parker, with a big shift in their scores being seen from the year that Perse took over. Since then, no vintage has received fewer than 90 points, with the 2000, 2005, 2009 and 2010 vintages all receiving a perfect 100 points. As Parker writes: “Pavie’s style of low yields, ripe fruit and serious extraction does produce, even in lighter vintages, a very concentrated and dense wine, but in the great years, the results are legendary.”