CHÂTEAU PAVIE
2016 1er Grand Cru Classé Saint Emilion
60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon. A curious dry nose, more stone than fruit, but on the palate all the richness is there in spades - plums and poached plums, a compote of ripe red fruit, plums and blackberries. Not impossibly tannic, this can be held in the mouth, there's juice and more flow than in some past vintages here. Not for me at present as it does dry significantly on the finish, but certainly ambitious and this does have a sense of a fine terroir, so you feel it will get there in the end. Drinking range: 2030 - 2055 Rating: 93-94 L&S (Apr 2017)
* 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.
The 2016 Pavie is powerful and rich on the nose, and more decadent than the 2016 Angélus, featuring iodine-tinged blackberry and blueberry fruit and noticeable new oak, all lavish and sensual. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins, and fleshy to the point where it masks the backbone underneath. It feels hedonistic on the finish but retains control with a wonderful spiciness that lingers on the aftertaste. Superb. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. Drinking range: 2026 - 2070 Rating: 96+ Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Aug 2020)
Turning the dial up considerably, the 2016 Château Pavie leaps out of the glass with a thrilling bouquet of crème de cassis, toasty oak, graphite, white truffle, crayons, and flowers. A blend of 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon brought up in 85% new French oak (the new oak has been dialed back in recent vintages), this full-bodied Pavie is made in a more elegant, seamless style compared to prior great vintages, yet it still has brilliant depth of fruit and concentration, ripe, present tannins, a seamless texture, and an awesome finish. Drinking range: 2023 - 2073 Rating: 99 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (Feb 2019)
This is a rather showy—and captivating—display of fruit, with waves of lush cassis, raspberry and plum reduction flavors flowing through with authority and grace while a swath of chalky minerality stays deeply buried throughout. Toasty, glistening with vanilla and apple wood notes, but the fruit has the oak bridle easily in hand. One of the Right Bank showstoppers of the vintage. Drinking range: 2024 - 2040 Rating: 97 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Jan 2019)
The 2016 Pavie is a blend of 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon cropped at 38 hectoliters per hectare between 10 and 20 October. The alcohol this year is 14.55%, and it is matured in 80% new oak and 20% one-year-old wood. As Gérard Perse explained, this is a Pavie that has taken stock and shifted in direction in recent years, reflecting more of its exceptional terroir instead of winemaking. It has a very intense bouquet that is extremely well-defined and shrugs off that higher alcohol level. You can find the graphite vein courtesy of the Cabernet Sauvignon and the underlying tension, while a second bottle had a soupçon more florality. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent, ripe, supple tannins that gently caress the mouth. It feels beguiling and charming, totally different in style compared to say Cheval Blanc, offering a more sensual take on the 2016 growing season. It is a very impressive follow-up to the 2015 Pavie and may surpass it once in bottle. Drinking range: 2026 - 2060 Rating: 98-100 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2017)
Merlot has been reduced from 80% to 60% (will be 50% soon) and there's some Cabernet Sauvignon. Extracted 10 days less than in 2015, and in 2015 seven days less than the average before. No longer using 100% new oak - just 70%. Same philosophy in 2016 for both Bellevue Mondotte and Pavie Decesse. Dark crimson. Rich, sweet nose. In the vineyard there's just 50% Merlot! Very sweet start and really hard work. But much less exaggerated than it used to be. Sinewy. Some appetising quality. Very juicy start but then it dries on the finish. These wines are very different from the others in the appellation and I have to conclude that the owner and team taste differently from me and don't mind the drying finishes. For drama this deserves my score and it may well settle down to something lovely eventually. Drinking range: 2028 - 2045 Rating: 17 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2017)
This is a head-turner, with intense raspberry, cassis and boysenberry reduction notes pumping along, inlaid with a graphite edge and backed by waves of roasted apple wood, anise and fruitcake. Yet as large-scale as this is, it’s still harnessed by a fine, chalky minerality through the finish. "Wow" wine. Rating: 97-100 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2017)
This is more compressed and tighter than the 2015. It’s full-bodied, but very tight and focused. So linear and long. Love the gorgeous finesse. Goes on for minutes. All about finesse...new profile. Rating: 99-100 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2017)
One of the most thrilling surprises of the vintage, here a new approach to a more finely-wrought Pavie has collided with a vintage that has natural freshness and acidity. The result shows the potential of this terroir. Without a doubt the best Pavie that I have ever tasted, and one where I have not had to say, 'yes, but...'. Let's not pretend that it's night and day from the old regime, but nor should it be - Pavie needs to keep its signature black fruited glamour and intensity, as that is part of what delivered its new status, but to my mind this is a far better balance than in the past. The blend is 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, the lowest amount of Merlot since Perse arrived. This still has reams of intense fruit, but the tannins are not immovable as they have been in some years, and pulses of minerality leap up on the finish to make your mouth water. Gorgeous. It is also fascinating to learn the techincal details that have helped bring out the vintage character - besides the lower Merlot content, there were 10 days less maceration than last year and only 70% new oak. Drinking range: 2027 - 2050 Rating: 97 Jane Anson, Decanter (Apr 2017)
Seamless, sumptuous and super-expressive, the 2016 Pavie is a real head-turner. It will be years before the 2016 is ready to show all it's got. Even so, it is an absolutely stunning wine. The 2016 is 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc, which is the most Franc that has ever gone into the Grand Vin. That gives the wine striking aromatic nuance to play off the exquisite, layered fruit. The 2016 is an exceptional wine by any measure. In a word: magnificent! Rating: 97-100 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2017)
We’re not quite in “fist pump” territory yet, but this is the freshest and best-balanced Pavie I’ve had for a while. It’s still a very dense, rich, deeply coloured wine, with slightly too much extraction, but the fruit has some leafy notes and welcome acidity. Even earlier picking would transform the wine. Drinking range: 2022 - 2030 Rating: 93 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2017)
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.