Wine Advisor
Pavie Macquin 2009
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 2009 is enormous in size, yet broodingly backward, I was somewhat surprised by the astringency of the tannins in this blend of 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a big wine (14.5% alcohol), black purple in color, with huge concentration of fruit and beautiful purity, but a good decade of cellaring is required. From a top terroir, this wine is built for the long haul, and I am sure it will be even better than its relatively conservative rating at this point. Anticipated maturity: 2022-2035.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the Saint Emilion UGC, this has a very ripe, almost porty nose that I think is just a little over-extracted (which is a great surprise.) Macerated black cherries, cassis, apricot jam and a touch of damson. Pretty, but less would have been more. The palate shows much better balance with fine, saturated tannins, fabulous concentration with layers of spicy red fruits on the ebullient finish. Leaving my sample aside for 10 minutes, that nose does calm down as I think it will through its elevage, after which I am sure this will represent one of the top Saint Emilion wines. Tasted March 2010.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Yields here were 30 hectoliters per hectare, and the final blend 85% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon. The dynamic duo of Stephane Derenoncourt and Nicolas Thienpont produced nearly 4,000 cases of wine from this terroir, which has been promoted to a first growth in the St.-Emilion hierarchy. The 15% natural alcohol is rather shocking, because it is not the least bit noticeable. The wine is inky purple-colored, with loads of viscosity, an unctuous texture, and an enormous nose of charcoal, graphite, blackberry liqueur, and forest floor in a full-bodied, seamlessly constructed style. At the same time, the impression is one of a very unevolved, backward wine that has even more weight to put on and more nuances to reveal. I think this is one wine where the “plus” in the numerical rating will be very revealing. Forget it for 5-7 years and drink it over the next 30-40 years. (Tasted five times.)
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the Union de Grand Cru in London. The Pavie Macquin has a very refined bouquet with wild strawberry, blueberry and a touch of cassis all with very fine delineation. The palate is very refined with sensual tannins that have a Burgundian texture. Caressing and utterly refined on the pure finish with perfect acidity. Top class: one of my favourite Saint Emilion wines of the vintage. Tasted October 2011.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Served blind at the Southwold 2009 tasting. This sample was just let down by some volatility showing through on the nose that rendered it more like a Tuscan wine! Boot polish notes coming through with aeration. Everything is as it should be on the palate, which is medium-bodied with sweet ripe tannins. It is well balanced and fleshy with a very sweet, playful finish. I’ll be scoring this higher for sure. Tasted January 2013.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The Pavie-Macquin ‘09 is a blend of 84% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and just 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. It has a very ripe, sweet creme de cassis and blackcurrant pastille scented bouquet that is not a million miles away from Pavie ‘09, but not as gregarious and showing more aromatic clarity. The palate is medium-bodied with hints of dried orange peel and cedar on the entry. This is beginning to show both its backbone and minerality and like the Pavie, may close up for several years. A great wine though – wonderful poise and effervescence here. Tasted December 2012.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
Ripeness is pushed to the edge in the 2009 Pavie-Macquin. Maybe over the edge. Readers will find a full-bodied, voluptuous wine bursting at the seams with radiant intensity. Exotic, racy and full-bodied, Pavie-Macquin is a good example of the heavily-extracted style that was in favor back then. I find it lacking in both complexity and interest.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
(14.5% alcohol; 3.39 pH): Bright ruby-red. Enticing nose offers fragrant floral and red berry aromas lifted by aromatic wood and mineral notes. Bright, fresh and juicy, with concentrated red berry, tobacco and delicately herbal flavors showing noteworthy precision and depth. The very lively but harmonious acidity extends the flavors at the back. Despite the relatively warm vintage, Pavie Macquin's cool soils have yielded a bright, fresh wine with great purity of fruit and outstanding length. The youthful chewy tannins are noble and need time to resolve. This vintage of Pavie Macquin will requires patience, but it will age splendidly and ought to prove one of the best Pavie Macquins yet made.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
Medium-deep purple-tinged red. Ripe, fruity nose offers aromas of cherry pie, candied violet and dried herbs, along with a hint of alcoholic warmth. Enters the mouth fresh and lively, with firm acids nicely framing the pure if youthfully unevolved flavors of red berries and aromatic herbs. Finishes smooth, rich and long, with a saline suggestion of pine needles and very fine tannins. This very rich and attractive wine should offer considerable early appeal but should really be laid down.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2009 Pavie-Macquin has a very high-toned and slightly volatile bouquet that detracts from its classiness compared to the Figeac. The palate is sweet on the entry with a lot of extracted tannin, rather ostentatious. It seems too showy on the finish. Enjoyable, but it lacks the class of more recent vintages. This is a strange showing. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits' annual Ten Year On tasting.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(84% merlot, 14% cabernet franc and 2% cabernet sauvignon): Ruby-red. Superripe, high-toned aromas of dark chocolate, minerals and chalk; a bit port-like. Then supersweet in the mouth, with a distinctly exotic aspect to the dark fruit and mineral flavors. Finishes with substantial ripe tannins and a slight youthful aggressiveness. I expected more restraint and verve for this normally low-pH wine from a late-ripening site on the plateau east of the village, but fans of exotically ripe merlot will love this.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Deep garnet colored, the 2009 Pavie Macquin leaps from the glass with gregarious Chinese five spice, prunes, baked blackberries and hoisin notes with hints of licorice and chargrill. The full-bodied palate is quite mature with a plush, velvety texture and loads of baked berry and exotic spice layers, finishing long and perfumed.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Gorgeous aromas of crushed blackberries and blueberries, with vanilla bean. Full-bodied, with a solid core of very ripe fruit, toasted oak, milk chocolate and a long finish. Layered and intense. Made from organically grown grapes. Try in 2018.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Very dark and dense with roasting coffee beans, black plum and prune aromas plus a touch of volatility. A self-confidently decadent wine with a distinct sweetness at the front, but a rather drying finish. This needs time to soften. Better after 2022. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)
About the Producer
Located in the Saint-Emilion region on the right bank of the Bordeaux coast, the Chateau Pavie Macquin has been a Premier Grand Cru Classe B in Saint-Emilion since 2006, and its wines are highly sought after for their consistency. Since 1887, Albert Macquin has acquired a number of châteaux, acquiring some 26 hectares of land, thus giving shape to the Château de Berfet-Marcet. Albert was a pioneering agricultural engineer who pioneered and promoted the grafting and transplanting technique when phylloxera was sweeping through France, making a remarkable contribution to the fight against the spread of phylloxera and gaining acclaim in Saint-Emilion and throughout France. Today, the winery is managed by his grandsons Benoit Corre, Bruno Corre, Marie Jacques Charpentier and their children. In 1990, Stephane Derenoncourt, the famous winemaker, joined the estate as a consultant winemaker. A specialist in terroir, Stephane was considered to be the next Michel Rolland, and his wines were often highly regarded. In 1994, Nicolas Thienpont was recruited to run the Château de Pape Marquet. Nicolas comes from the Thienpont family, a well-known Bordeaux wine family with a strong background in winemaking and winery management, and now oversees both Chateau Beausejour Heritiers Duffau Lagarrosse and Château Las Dugas. He is also the owner of two first class B estates, Chateau Larcis Ducasse and Beausejour Heritiers Duffau Lagarrosse. Under the leadership of Stephane and Nicolas, Château Beausejour Heritiers Duffau Lagarrosse has progressed to become a First Growth of Saint-Emilion in 2006. The vineyard is situated at an altitude of 65-100 metres above sea level and covers 15 hectares of land adjacent to the three Grand Crus of Saint-Emilion - Chateau Pavie, Chateau Troplong Mondot and Chateau Trottevieille - and has a privileged terroir. The terroirs are covered with a limestone clay soil with a water-holding layer of stellate limestone 20-150 cm thick, producing fresh, full-bodied, powerful wines with a distinctive mineral flavour. Depending on the terroir of each plot, 84% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon are planted on the estate, with an average age of over 30 years. The vineyard is managed with respect for the terroir, using organic farming methods, planting companion plants and installing drainage systems to maintain soil vigour and ecological balance. In addition, the vineyard staff keep a close eye on the health of the vines, replanting those that have failed, and strictly controlling the planting density to ensure the production of quality fruit. In addition, the winery team carefully selects old vines and uses their cuttings to grow new vines, thus promoting genetic diversity while maintaining the good characteristics of the old vines. Château Lafite Marquet believes that wine is a joint crystallisation of the soil and the vines, and that it should reflect the delicate balance of the ecological environment, the variability of the vintages and the continuity of the local terroir. For this reason, the winery controls each step of the winemaking process with precision, producing individual grapes from different plots of land to create a wine that reflects the characteristics of the terroir. The grapes are hand-picked, optically screened and destemmed, and then fermented in large open-topped oak barrels for some of the grapes, and in concrete tanks for others. During the fermentation, the winemakers extract the pigments and phenolics from the skins in a gentle pressure cap process. After the alcoholic fermentation, the wine is transferred to oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and is then matured in 60% new French oak barrels for around 18 months, including 6 months of sludge ageing, resulting in a wine with silky tannins, intense and concentrated flavours, freshness and distinctive mineral characteristics. The result is a wine with silky tannins, intense flavours and a fresh, mineral character.
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