CHÂTEAU PAVIE

The 2023 Pavie is fabulous. Rich, dense and explosive in the glass, it offers up generous dark red fruit, cedar, spice, pipe tobacco, menthol and mocha. The 2023 impresses with its notable density and sheer palate presence. Naturally, this needs time to be at its best, but it is already incredibly expressive. This is a superb vintage for Pavie. Drinking range: 2031 - 2063 Rating: 95-97 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (May 2024)

This includes, since the 2022 vintage, all the fruit from Pavie-Decesse and Bellevue-Mondotte, none of which went into Arômes de Pavie. The blend is 51% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Franc and 17% Cabernet Sauvignon, picked at 32.76 hl/ha. The picking was from September 18th to October 5th, at the later end for the vintage. Sweet and perfumed fruit on the nose, concentrated but floral and delineated, with violets, cedar, pencil shavings, gorse flower and dark chocolate spice with black pepper. The palate follows this up with a perfect sense of harmony, showing elegantly polished fruit with a fine-boned frame of tannins simmering beneath it, which leads to a finish rich in grip. It is firm, structured, imposing, but it feels appropriate for the vintage and the estate’s standing. An impressive composition, with fine potential. Long and gripped. The élevage will be in 72% new oak, not out of the ordinary for this property. The alcohol on analysis is 14.25%, partly because the Cabernet Sauvignon registers a lower alcohol than Cabernet Franc. Rating: 94-96 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2024)

The depth and intensity is really out of this world. The richness is there, but it's all in balance and has an almost weightless feel to it. It's medium- to full-bodied with purity and definition, and the magic of limestone soils keeps the pH low, giving energy, bright acidity and verve. Terrific young red. 51% merlot, 32% cabernet franc and 17% cabernet sauvignon. Rating: 99-100 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2024)