Ch.Pavie Macquin 2010 750ml

Wine Advocate #205, Feb 28, 2013 by Robert Parker Jr
This is always an extremely masculine, dense, burly wine, and the 2010, which tips the scales at 14.5% alcohol (just slightly under that of the 2009), has a final blend of 80% Merlot and the rest virtually all Cabernet Franc, with just 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. Loads of crushed rock and chalkiness, along with licorice, black truffle, smoked game and black fruits dominate the aromatics and flavor. Backward, formidably endowed, full-bodied and almost atypically massive and huge, with gargantuan extraction, this is a wine for patient connoisseurs to forget about for close to a decade. Anticipated maturity: 2022-2040+.

Pavie Macquin is a property admirably situated on the top of the plateau of Saint Emilion. The realisation of the enormous quality of the property, as well as the will-power to produce a wine worthy of the terroir, began with the arrival of Maryse Barre in 1986. With great energy and determination, Madame Barre contributed hugely to the renaissance of the property. Her work is carried on by Nicolas Thienpont, who arrived at the end of 1994, accompanied by Stéphane Derenoncourt, already present at the chateau since 1990. They found, in Pavie Macquin, the ideal birthplace for a method of production that has since been proven the world over.
This research and this contemplation of a viticulture and vinification based on respect for natural law and a dynamic tradition have made Pavie Macquin a virtual laboratory. It is not a question of creating a new wine but simply of revealing the terroir and unveiling the qualities that were hitherto hidden. In one phrase, it meant revealing the hidden beauty of this ‘Cinderella’.
On the occasion of the reclassification of the Saint Emilion chateaux (in September 2006), Chateau Pavie Macquin was promoted to the prestigious level of Premier Grand Cru Classé.