Pavie Macquin 2021 (750ML)

94-95 JS / 95 DE / 93-95 WA / 93-95 JD / 94 JA / 92-94+ WI / 92-94 VM

Lots of blackberry and inky character to this year. Always refined and polished with lovely length and medium body. 79% merlot, 19% cabernet franc and 2% cabernet sauvignon. - James Suckling

Iris and raspberry notes on the nose, delicately floral but fresh and lively - just shy of mouthwatering acidity - but enough to create such a lift on the first taste which has a juicy effect. The acidity is nicely balanced but this has such a gentle charm, a suaveness and sensuality to it, tannins are sleek and agile with some bitter dark chocolate and slate edges while the fruit is full of black cherry, plum and blueberry touches. But it’s the texture and the aromatic display that are so captivating - having density and weight but no heaviness. You get the ripeness in the flavour but the overall feeling remains cool and refreshing with tension and terroir on show in the wet stone nuance underpinning the fruit. Just pure grace and precision. An exceptional effort for the estate's 150th vintage. 'The worst thing on the label is the vintage' says general director Marielle Cazeaux "because people think it’s bad, but this is really the DNA of La Conseillante". 3.6pH. Merlot picked from 28th September to 1st October, Cabernet Franc on the 6th and 12th October. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter

Another success in this challenging year is the 2021 Pavie Macquin, a promising effort that offers up aromas of sweet berries, Indian spices, licorice and bay leaf. Medium to full-bodied, layered and incisive, it's a tensile, tightly wound wine that's concentrated and penetrating, concluding with a mineral finish. Its low pH profile means that this is always an estate that gains a lot from élevage, but even at this early stage, it's clear that this has excellent potential. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate

Tasted on multiple occasions, the 2021 Château Pavie Macquin is a more forward, textured, charming wine from this estate that still has plenty of classic Pavie Macquin class, freshness, and minerality, which is the hallmark of this terroir. Coming from a cooler site just above Château Pavie, the 2021 is a blend of 79% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, from a selection of 80% of the production. Harvest here started on the 4th of October for the Merlot and finished on the 19th of October for the Cabernet, and the wine spent 30-35 days on skins in a mix of open top wood and concrete tanks and is currently resting in 50% new French oak barrels. Its deep purple hue is followed by terrific aromatics of blue fruits, violets, and chalky minerality, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, ripe, rounded tannins, good mid-palate depth, and a great finish. This cuvée always needs bottle age, but I suspect this will be one of the more approachable vintages for this wine. - Jeb Dunnuck

Beautifully poised, dark ruby in colour, full of rippled fruit flavours, stands out in the appellation. It hasn't got miraculously riper than all the rest but it is handled with skill, and has a truly juicy mouthwatering finish and slate tannins that show grip and tenacity against the serious, austere structure. Expect raspberry, greengage and redcurrant fruits that need to fatten out a little over ageing, but everything is in place to do so. This is the plateau speaking. 37hl/h yield, harvest October 4 to 19, 50% new oak. Tasted twice. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2021 Pavie Macquin charges out of the gate with bold notions of blackberry pie, red currant jelly and kirsch, plus hints of crushed rocks, pencil shavings, and violets. Medium-bodied, the palate has beautiful restraint and elegance, featuring a quiet intensity of black and red berry flavors, framed by plush tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long and mineral laced. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

The 2021 Pavie Macquin was picked from 4 to 19 October at 37hL/ha, the Grand Vin representing around 80% of the crop. Matured in 50% new oak, it clearly has the most fruit concentration amongst Nicolas Thienpont's portfolio with black cherries, blueberry and bilberry fruit, just a faint touch of orange rind in the background. The palate is fresh and well-structured on the entry, insistent grip and a pleasant seam of sapidity running through this Saint-Émilion. More "vertical" than usual, this is nicely focused with a delineated, quite mineral-driven finish that showcases its asteriated limestone terroir. Excellent. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media