Wine Advisor
Pavie Macquin 2011
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
In so many vintages, Pavie-Macquin is a wine of total seduction. Not in 2011. Readers will find a powerful, tightly wound Saint-Émilion. Smoke, licorice, spice and dark fruit add to the wine's virile, imposing personality. I would prefer to cellar the 2011 for at least another few years, as it still needs time. Hot, dry weather in the spring led to a quick flowering, but then the second half of the growing season was much cooler. It is a vintage that is at once very ripe in its fruit profile, and yet the tannins have a firmness that demands cellaring.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
Bright inky purple. Red cherry, dark berries, pepper, licorice and minerals on the almost Burgundian nose, lifted by a floral topnote. Lovely inner-mouth perfume and precision to the pure raspberry, dark cherry and crushed violet flavors. The long, bright, rising finish features spicy, smooth tannins and lingering floral perfume, but a pyrazine (bell pepper) note also emerges.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
Opaque purple. Ripe cassis, smoke and flint on the perfumed nose. Ripe, full and suave on entry, then brightly acidic and fruity in the middle, with very good purity to the redcurrant and floral flavors. Finishes long and refined, but with a slightly green edge that had me a little worried. Still, there's so much lovely minerally fruit present that I'll give this wine the benefit of the doubt.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2011 Pavie-Macquin has a powerful nose with mulberry and red cherries, camphor and fennel emerging with time. Lacks finesse, but it is not unattractive. The palate is high-toned with sweet red cherry, cough candy and orange zest. Good substance on the finish, modern in style but well crafted. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This well-known St.-Emilion estate has turned out a dense purple-colored blend of 84% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. Super-concentrated, but not over-extracted, with an essence of blackberry, blueberry and black raspberry fruit interwoven with dusty, chalky minerality as well as a floral note, this full-bodied, rich, moderately tannic, pure, layered, impressive 2011 will benefit from 4-5 years of cellaring. It can be enjoyed over the following two decades.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
A blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, the Pavie-Macquin has a very sensual bouquet, very pure with raspberry, wild strawberry and red cherries. This is a very pretty nose and the oak is well integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins, an impressive ball of sweet red fruit at its centre and fine, almost filigree tannins at its centre. I like the focus, the joie-de-vivre of Nicolas Thienpont’s wine. This is an exceptional wine for the vintage. Tasted April 2012.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A very classic wine, the 2011 is inky purple, with a superb aromatic display of black raspberry, cassis, chocolate, forest floor and some vague smoky, barbecue scents. Full-bodied, powerful, pure and impressively rich, this blend of 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon tips the scales at 14.5% alcohol. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2035.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
In so many vintages, Pavie-Macquin is a wine of total seduction. Not in 2011. Readers will find a powerful, tightly wound Saint-Émilion. Smoke, licorice, spice and dark fruit add to the wine's virile, imposing personality. I would prefer to cellar the 2011 for at least another few years, as it still needs time. Hot, dry weather in the spring led to a quick flowering, but then the second half of the growing season was much cooler. It is a vintage that is at once very ripe in its fruit profile, and yet the tannins have a firmness that demands cellaring.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Fascinating nose of black truffles, fresh citrus fruit, and minerals. Cocoa too. Full body, with well-integrated tannins and a medium chewy finish. This has an impressive finish for the vintage.
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.
1989(1)1995(1)1998(4)2000(3)2003(7)2004(8)2005(4)2006(6)2007(2)2008(3)2009(14)2010(14)
Package Size
