CHÂTEAU PAVIE
2015 1er Grand Cru Classé Saint Emilion
As usual a tour de force of superconcentrated oaky mass. Even the extreme winemaking cannot entirely disguise the quality of the terroir here, which shines compared to the other Perse wines. Powerful concentration, but still some lift and interest. As usual this is hard to love at this stage, and it will remain controversial, but earlier vintages show that as it matures the mass will diminish and more elegance will emerge. Rating: 93-94+? L&S (Apr 2016)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
This is really something. Sort of speechless when I taste it. It shows evocative aromas of wet earth, oyster shell, dust, tile, blackberries and blueberries. Full body, ultra-fine tannins and a length and intensity that is so, so fine. A wine in perfect harmony. Complete. Hard not not to drink. Energetic and balanced. Better to wait for 10 years. Drinking range: 2028 - James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2018)
60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon. 37 ha. 36 hl/ha. No need for over-extraction because the grapes were naturally ripe. Picked until 9 October. Rich and silky. Blackish crimson. Massive build. Very sweet - but there is some freshness too. Very round tannins. More fluid and less astringent than many vintages. 14.55% Drinking range: 2028 - 2045 Rating: 17+ Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2016)
Follows recent vintages with more Cabernet Franc (22%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (18%) in the blend. Fragrant dark fruit and spice notes. Powerful tannic frame but the tannins are really refined. Opulent mid-palate but minerality and tension runs through to a firm, driving finish. Accomplished but needs time. Drinking range: 2025 - 2045 Rating: 95 James Lawther MW, decanter.com (Apr 2016)
Rating: 90 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2016)
For me, this redefines Pavie. The depth and intensity and more important, the clarity, is really something. Full and ultra-fine tannins. It shows such great tannins and finesse. It is the essences of Pavie. Rating: 100 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2016)
The 2015 Pavie is a blend of 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon that is matured in 80% new oak and 20% one-year-old barrels. It has a really quite glorious bouquet that is sensual and very well defined and pure. In my opinion, just dialing down the new oak even by 15% is allowing more personality and more terroir-expression to filter through. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, ripe, lace-like tannins and a fine bead of acidity. It feels caressing and sensual in the mouth with superb mineralité and purity on the vivacious and sustained finish. This is unquestionably the best wine from Gérard Perse in 2015: a great Pavie with a very long life ahead, though I would cellar it for at least a decade to witness it in full flight. Drinking range: 2025 - 2060 Rating: 96-98 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
One of the wines of the vintage, the 2015 Pavie is dense, powerful and seamless. A huge, spherical wine, even for the year, the 2015 exudes depth. Even with all of its intensity, the 2015 retains striking freshness and nuance, with plenty of bright red stone fruit and floral notes taking center stage. The super-extracted, oak-driven style that was such a Pavie signature a decade ago seems to be giving way to a more refined approach that showcases fruit, richness and purity. This is a superb showing from Gerard Perse and consulting winemaker Michel Rolland. Rating: 95-98 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
No information on the assemblage was presented here, with no technical staff present at the tasting. With a large swathe of the vineyard dedicated to Cabernet Franc though, I am sure it will feature prominently. The alcohol is 14.55%. This has very dark, baked black fruits on the nose, black cherry with scents of blackberry pie, slightly smudged, with sweet vanilla notes. The palate is bold, with creamed fruit substance, but it feels a little cooler and more restrained than some of the other Perse wines, at least at the start. There is a greater sense of balance here, big in body and substance, but appropriate, composed, with smoky fruit and plush texture. Underneath there is a broad underbelly of ripe, velvety, fairly fine-grained tannins, and a lot of honeyed oak, but it feels more together. A really big, bold, broad finish, with a long tannic grip, but it is not completely overdone. This will need fifteen or twenty years, but it is starting out from a big, confident position. Rating: 17.5-18.5/20 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2016)
This delivers some serious fruit firepower, with blueberry, blackberry and plum notes that pump along authoritatively, pulling the creamy tannins along with them. Echoes of tobacco and violet emerge through the finish, along with a buried mineral accent. A contender for wine of the vintage on the Right Bank. Rating: 95—98 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2016)
Château Pavie
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.