Chateau Pavie Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2012 98pts

98 Points Jeb Dunnuck
Bottled under a black label to celebrate Pavie’s addition to the Grand Cru Classé “A” classification, the 2012 Chateau Pavie is a brilliant wine, and readers with bottles in their cellars are in for a treat. From a bottle purchased in the US, this deep purple-hued beauty takes plenty of air (it showed best the day after opening) to show at its best yet offers incredible notes of blackcurrants, blackberries, scorched earth, graphite, leafy herbs, violets, and background oak. Rich, full-bodied, and powerful, it nevertheless has incredible elegance and purity, with loads of silky tannins, terrific freshness, and a blockbuster finish. I continue to believe 2012 was a great, great vintage for the Right Bank, and this just adds fuel to the fire. This beauty is approachable today yet will mostly likely merit a triple-digit rating in 5-7 years and will keep for 30-40 years, given its impeccable balance and depth of fruit. 98+

94-96 Points Wine Advocate
The full-bodied, opaque purple-hued 2012 exhibits a beautiful nose of mulberries, black cherries, cedar wood, high quality toasty oak, lead pencil shavings, crushed chalk and floral notes. This complex, authoritative, full-throttle Pavie possesses much more accessibility and precociousness than most vintages. It is another brilliant effort from proprietors Chantal and Gerard Perse. It should be drinkable in 8-10 years and last for three decades. From 47-year-old vines, Pavie, one of the largest estates in St.-Emilion (92 acres), has once again hit pay dirt with their 2012 Pavie. Yields were 28 hectoliters per hectare (which is slightly above the 26 hectoliters per hectare in 2010), and the harvest was exceptionally late. The tannins may be the sweetest of any young Pavie I have tasted since the 2001 (which the 2012 vaguely resembles).(94-96+)

94-96 Points Wine Enthusiast
Barrel sample. This is a powerful wine which exhibits a change in style towards elegance in recent years. The palate has delicious Merlot fruitiness along with black-currant acidity and a dense structure. Fine minerality at the end with juicy acidity.

95 Points Wine Spectator
This pulls out all the stops, with lush boysenberry confiture, warm plum sauce and blueberry reduction notes seamlessly intertwined with licorice snap, roasted apple wood and fruitcake flavors. A terrific bolt of graphite courses through the finish, producing impressive length and cut. A lot of spinning plates here, but the elements stay balanced. Best from 2018 through 2030.

94-95 Points James Suckling
Lots of beautiful aromas of roses, dark fruits and dark chocolate. Full and chewy with beautiful firm tannins and that add to the long finish. Very intense. Very fine tannins. Very, very long. 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon.

90-92 Points Int'l Wine Cellar
Good full purple-ruby. Sexy aromas of blackberry, black cherry and vanilla are complicated by hints of violet and graphite. Seamless, fine-grained and lightly saline, with tactile flavors of blueberry, cocoa and pepper. Very impressive balance and depth here. Finishes with supple tannins and outstanding length. A huge success for what is a less extracted style than usual for Pavie. Very well done.

Jancis Robinson
(Newly promoted to premier grand cru classé A. 60% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. 80% new oak.) Deepest inky purple crimson. Black core. Finely aromatic black fruit. But so concentrated that the aroma is suppressed for now. Tightly packed, dry, fine grained, no hardness even though there's obviously plenty of extraction. Deep, dark and impressive and takes no prisoners. Put it away for some time...Drink 2025-2035. 17.5+/20 points.

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