Wine Advisor
Pavie Decesse 2011
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This well-known estate situated on the limestone hillside above Pavie is produced from a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. Another brilliant offering from the Perse family, the dense opaque purple-colored 2011 reveals plenty of floral notes intermixed with super-concentrated cassis and kirsch. The chalky limestone soils provide minerality to this full-bodied, powerful, concentrated St.-Emilion. Some tannins are noticeable, but they are sweet. This 2011 should be drinkable in 3-4 years and last for 15-20.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2011 Pavie Decesse is a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc cropped at 26hl/ha at 14.3 degrees alcohol. It has an extremely ripe bouquet with macerated dark cherries, fig, a touch of fresh prune in the background and an intriguing oyster shell note. The palate is full-bodied with layers of ripe toasty black fruit with sufficient acidity to keep it balanced. It is fresh in the mouth, has a firm grip, but says “Come back after ten years.”Huge persistency on the finish! Tasted April 2012.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 2011 Pavie Decesse exhibits an inky/purple color along with notes of crushed chalk, black raspberries, blackberries, licorice, charcoal and toasty oak. Full-bodied, thick and unctuous (atypical for this vintage) with high tannin, this cuvee had just come out of malolactic fermentation when I tasted it, which undoubtedly accounts for its primary, infantile showing. Nevertheless, it is loaded, multidimensional and impressive, and will require 6-8 years of cellaring. It should keep for 25-30 years. From the plateau on the limestone hillsides of the Cote Pavie, this blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc is fashioned by proprietors Chantal and Gerard Perse. There was no problem with ripeness at this estate as the natural alcohol came in at 14.3%.
About the Producer
Chateau Pavie Decesse is located in the Saint-Emilion appellation on the right bank of Bordeaux, France, and is one of the Grand Cru Classe of Saint-Emilion. Château Pavie Decesse has strong ties to Premier Grand Cru Classe A, which was originally owned by Château Pavie. In 1885, Ferdinand Bouffard, the owner of Chateau Pavie, decided to reorganise the vineyards and separated a plot of land called "Pigasse", thus giving birth to Château Pavie de Caisse. The estate was then passed on to Mr Marzelle. In 1970, when he died, his wife entrusted the estate to the Valette family, then owners of Château Lafite, who took over the estate in 1990. In 1997, Gerard Perse bought the estate, and the following year, he took it under his wing. Since becoming part of the Perse family, Château de Berfet de Sais has enjoyed the same treatment as Château de Berfet and the quality of its wines has continued to improve. The 3.65 hectares of vineyards of Château Pape de Cais are located on the limestone plateau of Saint-Emilion, next to the vineyards of Château Pape, and have similar terroirs but with different characteristics. The soil is mainly made up of limestone and clay soils and is planted with 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, with an average vine age of 43 years. The limestone gives the wines their freshness, floral aromas and minerality, while the clay provides structure to the finished wines. In the winemaking, Château de Pays follows the modern winemaking philosophy of the Pace family, sharing the same winemaking team as Château Pays. The grapes are harvested by hand after they have ripened and undergo a rigorous manual selection process before moving on to the next stage of the process. Grapes from different plots are fermented separately in three temperature-controlled vats to allow for fine-tuning during the final blend. The maceration lasts three weeks before the wine is transferred to oak barrels for malolactic fermentation. After fermentation, the wine is matured in 80% new French oak barrels for 18-24 months, during which time it is racked every three months. This is followed by blending and bottling. In order to maintain the pure flavour of the wines, no clarification or filtration is carried out on the red wines of Château de Pape de Cais before bottling. Thanks to the excellent terroir, the wines of Château de Pape de Sais are rich and complex, full-bodied, with a fine tannic structure and excellent ageing potential. The red wines of Chateau Pavie Decesse, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classe, France, are not only very popular with consumers, but have also been highly praised by prestigious wine critics and magazines.
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