Chateau Pavie

 

 
I didn’t get off to the best start with Gerard Perse, as our first real encounter was when he fired off a very annoyed email at me for erroneously blogging on decanter.com that Pavie was up for sale. However, Perse is nothing if not smooth, and after an (honest) apology, he was all smiles again.

Probably the Right Bank’s most divisive figure, our conversation after The Blog, as it shall hereafter be known, was pretty illuminating, as he sighed, ‘Why am I the target of every piece of gossip on the Right Bank? And why do people continue to write things about me that are simply not true, and yet never come to visit me in person to find out the truth?’.

When Perse came to Saint Emilion, back in 1993 with the purchase of Chateau Monbusquet (still his home), all the controversy was of course ahead of him. Fresh from the sale of not one but two supermarkets chains, he set about investing heavily first in Monbusquet, then in his second purchase Chateau Pavie Decesse in 1997, and finally with Pavie itself in 1998.  (when he also sold his last group of stores that he owned in the Paris region and moved full time to Saint Emilion). Previously, Pavie was owned by the Valette family (Thierry Valette, who now owns Clos Puy Arnaud in Cotes de Castillon and is busy practising bio-dynamic winemaking), who had perhaps not brought the very best out of its terroir - or, alternatively, had not pushed it to the very brink of what a Saint Emilion is 'supposed' to be.

 
Since his arrival at Pavie, he brought in Michel Rolland as his winemaker, and it is undoubtedly fair to say that the two have put their own stamp on the wine. This means respect for terroir that is expressed through grapes that are as mature as possible, and that have been severely restricted in their yields. Reportedly, in 2008, he was still bringing in certain plots in early November. Grapes are brought in in small crates with a maximum capacity of 10 kilograms to avoid damaging the berries. They are vinified usually in 80-100% new oak (all in new oak for malolactic fermentation, the rest in barrels of one wine depending on the vintage). Lees are stirred every few months to put them back into suspension, and there is no fining or filtration at the end of the ageing.
 
Pavie is almost 42 hectares in size, mainly on the limestone plateau around 85 metres above sea level, with certain sections on the Saint Emilion hill slopes, with around 50cm of poor clay above a bed of limestosne, and small parcels in the foothills, on sandy-clay and gravel. According to local records, vines were planted in the 4th century at both Ausone... and Pavie.
 

Personally, I have always been a bit unwilling to go near Pavie, because my (more extensive) experience with Monbusquet has convinced me that my palate is just not a Perse fan. But the ten year vertical that I did in Paris recently (see notes below) was a revelation, and I found myself truly enjoying the older vintages. So perhaps all of these tight tannins always do open to reveal the splendour that lies beneath...

 

Ten Year Vertical of Chateau Pavie, Saint Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classe (tasted at Georges V Hotel, Paris, 18/3/2008)

1998 – Some tertiary colours evident, lovely delicate brick red although there is still good intensity at the core. A gorgeous warm nose, soft brambly fruits and lovely spicy vanilla pods. This dances across the palate, with its late autumn fruits, really enjoyable and ready to drink. Perse took over in March 1998, so apart from the early season pruning, he followed the full growth cycle. 94

1999 – Has the same delicious spiciness and autumnal fruits on the nose as the 98. It steals up on you on the palate, and is enormously welcoming and enjoyable but there is slightly less structure for the fruit to hang off than the preceding year, and the fresh flavours have slipped away a little too much. 91-92

2000 – What a wonderful nose. And a wonderful sweetness to the fruit also here, with that mouth-watering, juicy, ‘croquant’ quality that all good Right Banks should have. Excellent. 95-97

2001 – My favourite so far in this line-up. The nose is tightening as the wine gets younger, and the spiciness is beginning to be replaced by chocolate, but still a wonderfully rich slightly melted chocolate at this stage of evolution, with hints of violet. Very seductive, mellow but powerful, like a good Elmore James record. 96-98

2002 – All about the mocha and coffee on the nose. Very enjoyable at first, although on the palate you are starting to assume dive position to get through the tannins. The magic number for Pavie seems to be eight years. Any younger, and be prepared to put your boots on. 93.

2003 – From the colour, this seems to be ageing fairly quickly, and on the palate the fruit has pretty much broken down, leaving only alcohol behind. The only bad one of this tasting for me. 84.

2004 – For me, a very classic Pavie. Menthol, chocolate, violets... and tannins. It hasn’t loosened up enough to be approaching, it’s still the nerd in the corner, for the wine nerd fan. Clearly a powerhouse underneath – so I guess this one is Stephen Spielberg, if we are to believe the portrait of him in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. 92.

2005 – Okay, yet another proof of how good this vintage is. Gorgeous rich and velvety nose. This is a wonderful combination of mint, violet, dark dark cherries, with perhaps a touch too much vanilla from the oak, making it just a touch too sweet. Hot in alcohol, but it gets away with it right now because of the fruit. 96-98

2006 – Thick, rich, almost impossible to navigate through (I commented at thie point that the accompanying Monbusquet Blanc that was also in the tasting was like a lifeboat in the sea of tannin)... for me, this is shouting just a little too hard about how clever it is. 92

2007 – I will probably be shot for saying this, but I prefer the 2007 to the 2006, which I found the most difficult to taste of this whole line-up. It doesn’t have the same power as some of the others, of course, but is that really such a bad thing?? There is still good layers of fruit, a lovely perfumed nose, and for me the fruit is all the better defined for being able to speak against the shouting of the tannin. 93-94

2008 – I tasted all of the Perse 2008s, and found the Pavie by far the most enjoyable, which is not necessarily what I would have expected. Beautifully aromatic nose, and can clearly pick out the cabernet franc (this vintage has 70% merlot, 20% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon). The tannins are still in hobnailed boots, but it has a real elegance to it, and once you’ve recovered from the initial punch, there is a velvety smooth finish. 94-95.