Château Pavie Decesse 2010, Bordeaux, France
SKU:
750ml
SGD 375.00
SGD 375.00
per item
Vintage: 2010
Varietal: 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc
Appellation: St. Émilion Grand Cru
Drinking Window: 2018-2058
Alcohol content: 15% vol
Scores (if you care about): Robert Parker: 96/100;
Stephen Tanzer/Vinous: 94/100
Tasting Notes and Reviews
“A Blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, with 14.5% natural alcohol, the higher percentage of Merlot in this wine than in the Pavie gives it a stunning opulence, thickness and luxuriousness. Opaque purple, with notes of mulberry and kirsch liqueur leaning toward blacker fruits, subtle smoked meats and some lead pencil and vanillin, this is another brawny, full-bodied, yet remarkably precise and fresh style of wine despite its sensational extract and power. Give it 5-6 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 30-40 years.
This vineyard has shrunk, as part of it was incorporated into its more famous sibling, Chateau Pavie. It is now 8.5 acres sitting slightly higher on the slope above Pavie.” 96 pts, Robert Parker Jr, Feb 2013
"(15% alcohol): Saturated dark ruby. High-toned aromas of cassis, black raspberry, bitter chocolate and crushed-rock minerality. Layered and powerful on the palate, but with highly concentrated cassis, black raspberry and dark chocolate flavors energized by pungent chalky minerality and strong acidity. One feels the 15% alcohol in the wine's sheer size and chewy texture but the impressively long finish shows more tangy energy than heat. Needs five or six years of patience, but this comes across as considerably less tanninc and forbidding than the Pavie" 94/100, Stephen Tanzer/Vinous, July 2013
Estate & Wine
Being too often overshadowed by its illustrious sibling Chateau Pavie, a Premier Grand Cru Classe since 2012, Chateau Pavie-Decesse, a Grand Cru Classe as per original 1955 classification, has over the years learnt to step out of that shadow of the big brother into the limelight with some of the most outstanding wines such as the 2005, 2009 and 2010 vintages. Owner Gerard Perse has given the same attention to this vineyard as Chateau Pavie since he bought over the two in the late 1990s. With similar terroir and a blend that comprises 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet franc, the wines of Gerard Perse are big and bold with alcohol in excess of 15%. And perhaps aptly so, his wines also have the added distinction of having split the wine critic world into two, right down the middle with the likes of Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson sitting poles apart on their view of this Chateau. A quick look up of the 2005, 2009 or the 2010 vintage on wine-searcher, as the scores clearly show, suggests the esteemed jury is still sitting on two different banks of the river with Parker and team rating the wine in the high ninetees while Jancis Robinson and Tim Atkin barely giving it a pass.
The estate is located on the Saint-Emilion limestone plateau, approximately 85 meters above the Dordogne River. The soil is largely clay-limestone with an asteriated limestone subsoil with vines ageing approximately 43 yrs. Pavie-Decesse is fermented in new oak barrels for 18 to 24 months with racking every 3 months. Final blending takes place just before bottling, without fining or filtering. While there’s much debate on increasing the component of Cabernet and how the same may evolve over the years, the blend as is, is outstanding. If there’s one wine you need to bring to a party to start a conversation, we suggest you bring this over. Score or no score, we believe it’s a true gem from St-Emillion and capable of providing much joy to the drinker.
“A Blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, with 14.5% natural alcohol, the higher percentage of Merlot in this wine than in the Pavie gives it a stunning opulence, thickness and luxuriousness. Opaque purple, with notes of mulberry and kirsch liqueur leaning toward blacker fruits, subtle smoked meats and some lead pencil and vanillin, this is another brawny, full-bodied, yet remarkably precise and fresh style of wine despite its sensational extract and power. Give it 5-6 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 30-40 years.
This vineyard has shrunk, as part of it was incorporated into its more famous sibling, Chateau Pavie. It is now 8.5 acres sitting slightly higher on the slope above Pavie.” 96 pts, Robert Parker Jr, Feb 2013
"(15% alcohol): Saturated dark ruby. High-toned aromas of cassis, black raspberry, bitter chocolate and crushed-rock minerality. Layered and powerful on the palate, but with highly concentrated cassis, black raspberry and dark chocolate flavors energized by pungent chalky minerality and strong acidity. One feels the 15% alcohol in the wine's sheer size and chewy texture but the impressively long finish shows more tangy energy than heat. Needs five or six years of patience, but this comes across as considerably less tanninc and forbidding than the Pavie" 94/100, Stephen Tanzer/Vinous, July 2013
Estate & Wine
Being too often overshadowed by its illustrious sibling Chateau Pavie, a Premier Grand Cru Classe since 2012, Chateau Pavie-Decesse, a Grand Cru Classe as per original 1955 classification, has over the years learnt to step out of that shadow of the big brother into the limelight with some of the most outstanding wines such as the 2005, 2009 and 2010 vintages. Owner Gerard Perse has given the same attention to this vineyard as Chateau Pavie since he bought over the two in the late 1990s. With similar terroir and a blend that comprises 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet franc, the wines of Gerard Perse are big and bold with alcohol in excess of 15%. And perhaps aptly so, his wines also have the added distinction of having split the wine critic world into two, right down the middle with the likes of Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson sitting poles apart on their view of this Chateau. A quick look up of the 2005, 2009 or the 2010 vintage on wine-searcher, as the scores clearly show, suggests the esteemed jury is still sitting on two different banks of the river with Parker and team rating the wine in the high ninetees while Jancis Robinson and Tim Atkin barely giving it a pass.
The estate is located on the Saint-Emilion limestone plateau, approximately 85 meters above the Dordogne River. The soil is largely clay-limestone with an asteriated limestone subsoil with vines ageing approximately 43 yrs. Pavie-Decesse is fermented in new oak barrels for 18 to 24 months with racking every 3 months. Final blending takes place just before bottling, without fining or filtering. While there’s much debate on increasing the component of Cabernet and how the same may evolve over the years, the blend as is, is outstanding. If there’s one wine you need to bring to a party to start a conversation, we suggest you bring this over. Score or no score, we believe it’s a true gem from St-Emillion and capable of providing much joy to the drinker.