Winemaker Notes
Blend: 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc
The Barrel Sample for this wine is above 14% ABV.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From vines located just above Château Pavie and based on 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, the 2019 Château Pavie Decesse sports a vivid purple hue as well as a stunning nose of pure cassis, lead pencil, graphite, spring flowers, chocolate, and a wonderful sense of chalky minerality. It's put on weight since I tasted it from barrel and brings full-bodied richness and depth with plenty of ripe tannins, all of which are grounded by classic Saint-Emilion limestone-driven minerality. It's a beautifully deep, layered, powerful Pavie Decesse that's going to need 7-8 years, if not a decade, to hit maturity and will have 20-30 years of longevity. Best After 2029
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James Suckling
A perfumed nose of cherries, blueberries, cedar, toast, cloves and walnuts. Full-bodied with a firm, beautiful frame of fine-grained tannins. Layered and elegant. Intense, powerful and spicy. Dark and intriguing, with wonderful presence in the glass. Keeps going.
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Wine Enthusiast
The vines for this wine are situated on the Saint-Émilion plateau. While the wine shows power and concentration, the quality of the black plum and berry fruits provides a fine counterpoint. This fine wine is in a line from this estate that ages well.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From a small vineyard located on the limestone slopes above Pavie itself, the Perse family's 2019 Pavie Decesse exhibits aromas of ripe cherries, crème de cassis and fruit liqueurs mingled with notions of menthol, vanilla pod and cloves. Full-bodied, rich and extracted, it's thick and muscular, with lively acids and prodigious reserves of chewy tannin that assert themselves on the finish. While it is a touch toned down by comparison with the wines produced here a decade ago, it remains one of the inkiest, most extracted wines in Saint-Émilion. I tend to think that an even gentler vinification would bear dividends without sacrificing the concentration and intensity of flavor that can be taken for granted with a terroir of such quality and viticulture of such exigence. Best After 2029 Rating : 92+
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.