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Pavie Decesse 2016

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > St Emilion
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyMerlot

This 3.65 hectare vineyard is owned by Pavie and is situated on the same south-facing slope. The vines here are 50 years old. 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc. Always black, concentrated and powerful, made from low yields and aged in 100% new oak.

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Tasting Notes

The 2016 Pavie Decesse, matured in 100% new oak for 24 months, has a glorious bouquet of well-defined kirsch, blueberry, crème de cassis, dark chocolate and crushed violet aromas that explode from the glass. There’s no holding back here. The palate is medium-bodied and quite pure, offering sappy black fruit, a fine bead of acidity and a touch of spice toward a satiny finish that lingers in the mouth. Very promising. Drink 2024-2060

94+
Neal Martin, vinous.com (Jan 2019), January 2019

Amazing, pure cherries, plums and flowers, as well as crushed stones. It jumps out of the glass. Full body, powerful tannins and a freshness and roundness to it. Lightly salty on the finish. Great structure with finesse. Try after 2024.

99
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, February 2019

A barrel sample, the very deep purple-black colored 2016 Pavie Decesse hits the ground running with bold scents of plum preserves, Black Forest cake and crème de cassis with hints of hoisin, Sichuan pepper, Chinese five spice and molten chocolate plus wafts of camphor and licorice. Full-bodied, very firm and wonderfully grained, with a very taut, muscular fruit profile, the palate is packed with mineral sparks and finishes on a long-lingering earthy note.

95/97
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (Interim En), November 2018

A Perse wine from up on the limestone plateau where the vines never suffered from dry water stress in 2016, and so this has juice, tension and depth, plus a quite amazingly low 3.43pH. Gorgeous - the best that I remember. 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc.
Drinking Window 2025-2038

94
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, April 2017

Blackish crimson. Lively and sinewy but a bit severe and austere - lacks real flesh in the middle. Drying end. Not my style. Too reminiscent of Pavie 2003!
Drink 2025-2040

16
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2017

This 3.65 hectare vineyard is owned by Pavie and is situated on the same south-facing slope. The vines here are 50 years old. 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc. Always black, concentrated and powerful, made from low yields and aged in 100% new oak. Glass-staining colour, with notes of figs, over-ripe banana, dried fruits and wood char. This is extreme on the palate, wth thick fig jam and damsons, tar and barbecue smoke. The tannins coat the mouth through to the finish, with drying extract sapping out the fruit flavours.

87
Farr Vintners, February 2017

A wine that’s going to flirt with perfection in a few years, the 2016 Pavie Decesse is a normal blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc that was brought up in new barrels. It has an incredible mix of power and elegance that’s hard to describe, hitting the palate with a deep, full-bodied texture that carries, beautiful tannins, good acidity (the pH here is quite low), no hard edges, and thrilling length. Exotic, with notes of cassis, orange blossom, graphite, white truffle, and crushed rocks, it tastes like the essence of the limestone soils just outside of Saint Emilion. It’s going to need 7-8 years of bottle age and keep for decades. It’s another magical wine from the Perse team. Drink 2026-2076.

98+
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com, March 2019

The nose is tight the start of the palate firm with red and black fruits. The tannins are aggressive dusty tending to overpower and dry the fruit and although there is a hint of sweetness the tannins obscure. 2025-37

85/87
Derek Smedley MW, DerekSmedleyMW.co.uk, April 2017
89
Tim Atkin MW, timatkin.com, April 2017
Read more tasting notes...

The 2016 Pavie-Decesse is a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc cropped at just 26 hectoliters per hectare and delivers 14.63% alcohol with a pH of 3.43. It was picked on 12 October and will be matured in 100% new oak. It has a very flamboyant nose for the vintage, eschewing the classicism you might find elsewhere in Saint Emilion with luscious macerated black cherries, blueberry and vanilla pod aromas, a hint of iodine developing in the glass. The palate is full-bodied with succulent, juicy ripe blue and black fruit, the acidity maintaining the freshness and with an almost viscous finish due to the concentration. It is atypical for the vintage, hedonistic and creamy in texture. Go for this if you seek fruit and concentration in 2016.
Drink Date 2026 - 2050

92/94
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (230), April 2017

This has beautiful presence and finesse with lovely fruit, mineral and light walnut character. Center palate is gorgeous. Long and refined. Perhaps better than the superb 2015.

98/99
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, March 2017
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.