Pavie 2005

Even more flamboyant and sexy than the 2000, the 2005 Pavie has everything you could ever want from a wine. Deep, inky purple-colored, an awesome perfume of cassis, blackberries, toasty oak, graphite, and incredible minerality, full body, sweet tannin, and a blockbuster finish all make for an extraordinary Saint-Emilion. It’s still a baby but offers incredible pleasure today. It’s going to last for another 3-4 decades.

Score: 100

Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com Maturity: 2018-2058 25 August 2018

Now that the 2005 Pavie is in the bottle, I would place it, qualitatively, a notch below the prodigious 2000, and a few notches above the blockbuster 2003. There are 7,000 cases of this 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon blend. Disregarding the blatant jealousy of his success as well as his “outsider” status, proprietor Gerard Perse has pushed the envelope of quality, fashioning first-growth quality wines from one of Bordeaux’s finest terroirs. In St.-Emilion, only Ausone can be considered to have greater potential in terms of micro-climate and terroir. Pavie’s 2005 exhibits a thick-looking purple color to the rim as well as an exquisite perfume of blueberry and blackberry liqueur, unsmoked cigar tobacco, crushed rocks, damp earth, and hints of truffles and incense. The vineyard’s limestone soils have provided massive concentration, a laser-like precision, fresh, zesty acidity, and massive tannin. Despite the wine’s enormous concentration and intensity, there is a lightness to its style. As Perse has made clear, he is trying to produce modern day versions of such great vintages as 1921, 1929, 1945, and 1947, wines that lasted 50 or more years. I do not understand why Perse receives so much criticism. In the blind tastings of each new vintage conducted by the Grand Jury European, Pavie usually wins against 100 or so other great Bordeaux. As they say, the truth is irrefutable - this is one of the world’s most outstanding wines, and the 2005 Pavie should take its place among the greatest achievements of Bordeaux in the last 50 years. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2060.

Score: 98

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2020-2060 30 April 2008

It is increasingly apparent that the simplistic bashing by some wine writers of Gerard Perse and his wines as well as the "American taste," is undermining their credibility ... as it should. As each new vintage gets released, consumers can taste Pavie and the other Perse wines and see for themselves how profound Pavie is. There is a reason why the highly respected Grand Jury European rated Pavie ahead of all other Bordeaux chateaux in 2000 and 1999. It is obviously a profound wine. When Jean-Francois Moueix (the owner of Petrus) and I were discussing this, he mentioned that his late father, Jean-Pierre, always believed that after Ausone, Pavie possessed the greatest terroir of St.-Emilion. While it was never exploited to its full potential by its previous owners, Gerard Perse has brought it to the forefront, consistently making one of the top wines of Bordeaux. Moreover, Perse’s offerings are meant to age for five or more decades. It’s hard to judge at this early stage whether the 2005 will be better than the 2003 or 2000, but it is unquestionably a thrilling wine to smell, taste, and reflect upon. Only 7,000 cases are produced from this 112-acre vineyard with an extraordinary exposition. In 2005, yields were a minuscule 30 hectoliters per hectare, the average age of the vines is 43 years, and the blend was 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine receives a 4-5 week maceration, malolactic in barrel a la top Burgundies, and aging on its lees. Perse, who neither fines nor filters, ages the wine for 26 months in barrel. He has recently gone to the additional expense of buying his own trees and having the wood air-dried and coopered to his specifications by the cooperage firm of Sylvain and Nadalie. The 2005 Pavie is reminiscent of some of the great 1900s, 1929s, 1945s, and 1949s. Inky/purple to the rim, with that extraordinary liqueur of minerals interwoven with creme de cassis, blackberries, and juicy cherries, it reveals a subtle note of smoky oak, massive body, a multilayered mid-palate and texture, incredibly high tannin, and dramatic levels of fruit, glycerin, and extract. The alcohol came in at 14% naturally in 2005, higher than in either 2000 or 2003. This is a wine of extraordinary purity, precision, and monumental aspirations.

Score: 98 - 100

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2015-2050+ 30 April 2006

Very dark. Refreshing, savoury, leathery nose, though the oak is a bit obvious. Pretty angular on the finish at the moment but pretty impressively long. I do wish the proprietor would submit Pavie for blind tasting during the primeurs sessions; I'm sure I would score it higher if he did. Post Pavie 2003 saga, tasting at the château is hardly a relaxed, dispassionate experience. The favourite of the group when scores were averaged.

Score: 17 - 18

Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2015-2023 18 August 2009

The wine produced from this undeniably great terroir has been controversial ever since 1997 when Gerard Perse took over here. Massive investments have been made in the vineyard and the chai, with Pavie now epitomising the state of the art in modern winemaking. Opaque deep inky purple colour. Once again Pavie is a behemoth. A potent nose of dark plum and prune fruit with complicating leather, smoke, tar and dark chocolate notes. Thick and tannic with a huge structure and better freshness and balance than either Pavie Decesse or Bellevue-Mondotte. Monumental but not monolithic. A steamrolling wine.

Score: -

Albany Vintners, - 01 January 1900