Wine Advisor
Pavie Decesse 2014
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The Château Pavie-Decesse 2014 is a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc cropped at 18 hectoliter per hectare on 6 October. It is aged in 80% new oak. It has a super-ripe, crème de cassis and blueberry jam scented nose that feels slightly porty, especially when compared to the Monbousquet '14. The palate is full-bodied with soft ripe tannin and plush black cherries mixed with blueberry and strawberry fruit. The palate actually works better than the nose: more harmonious than expected with plenty of "rondeur" on the finish. Hopefully some of its gloss with ebb away by the time of bottling because at the moment this seems dwarfed by the Château Pavie.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2014 Pavie-Decesse has an attractive bouquet that has improved since I tasted it from barrel: notes of black cherries, cassis, a touch of kirsch and crushed violets, the new oak neatly integrated. The palate is smooth on the entry and is clearly much more approachable than the Pavie. There are still quite firm tannins beneath those layers of pure black fruit, yet it is undeniably much more harmonious than say the 2014 Monbousquet, with a lovely velvety finish that lingers in the mouth.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2014 Pavie-Decesse is laced with inky blue/purplish fruit, crème de cassis, lavender, violet and cloves that all flesh out in the glass. This is one of the most unctuous, powerful 2014s readers will come across. There is plenty of underpinning of structure to balance things out, but still, my impression is that Pavie-Decesse could be a materially better wine with less pushed extraction and less oak influence overall. There is more personality here than at Pavie, but it needs a different approach to fully come through.
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.
1983(1)1984(1)1990(1)1998(1)2000(3)2001(1)2003(3)2004(3)2005(3)2006(5)2007(5)2008(1)2009(6)2010(11)2011(4)2012(4)2013(4)
Package Size
