Ch.Pavie Macquin 2013 750ml

Wine Advocate #227, Oct 29, 2016
The 2013 Pavie-Macquin has a light but detailed and pure redcurrant and cranberry-scented bouquet, suggestions of rose petal developing with aeration. The sample tasted at the property was showing a little more precision than others I have encountered. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp, edgy tannin, a fine bead of acidity, a little brittle in texture but with tension on the smooth and refreshing finish. This is a worthy addition to the Right Bank 2013s and it should give a dozen years of pleasure. It deserves a round of applause for overcoming such a difficult growing season.

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.