2009 Ch. Pavie, St. Emilion

Ch. Pavie’s 2009 is a rich style of Merlot wine with a huge concentration. Well balanced and well made with pretty blackcurrant fruit and supple tannins, this is the best Ch. Pavie we’ve tasted in years.

Dense and profound. Layered fruit. Tight, firm tannic frame. Muscular and powerful. Built for the long haul. A confident wine but misses a little of the charm of the vintage.
(Steven Spurrier - Decanter - April 2010)

Blackish purple. Suddenly interesting! Very distinctive. Very appetising and succulent. All pleasure but with a promise of future development. So much more satisfying and succulent than its stablemates.
(Jancis Robinson MW - jancisrobinson.com - Apr 2010)

Bottled the week before I arrived, the 2009 Pavie appears to have barely budged since I tasted it two years ago. Many experts consider this phenomenal terroir to be nearly as great as that of Ausone. Made from a classic blend of 60-70% Merlot, 20-25% Cabernet Franc and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, this inky/blue/purple-colored blockbuster reveals wonderful notes of blackberries, crushed rocks, roasted meats, spring flowers, cedar, blueberries, graphite and a hint of vanillin. With extravagant fruit and high extract as well as a hint of minerality, this structured, massively intense effort is typical of all the luxurious, perfect or nearly perfect Pavies produced under the Perse regime (which began in 1998). While built for 40-50 years of cellaring, the softness of the vintage and its flamboyant style is slightly less apparent in the 2009 Pavie than in some of the other Perse wines. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050+
(Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - February 2012)

Blackberry, black cherry, licorice and mineral. Full-bodied, with a big core of velvety tannins and rich fruit. Full throttle, and all there. Really massive. Blockbuster and more. Could be a tad overdone. But we will see in bottle.
(James Suckling - Wine Spectator - March 2010)