| Producer | Château Pavie |
| Country | France |
| Region | Bordeaux |
| Subregion | St.-Emilion |
| Varietal | Bordeaux Blend |
| Vintage | 2005 |
| Sku | 15859 |
| Size | 750ml |
Gérard Perse believes this is the greatest Pavie he’s made to date, although certainly I would argue that list includes the 2000, as well as the 2009 and 2010, among his superstars. This wine, which I had both in the 2005 horizontal report in the Wine Advocate, and at a mini-vertical with Perse at the restaurant Maison Boulud in Montreal, looks to be a 75- to 100-year wine. Dense, opaque purple to the rim, with a gorgeously promising nose of blackberries, cassis, graphite and cedar wood just beginning to emerge, it tastes more like a three-year-old than wine that is already a decade old. This beauty is intense and full-bodied, with magnificent concentration, a majestic mouthfeel and a total seamless integration of tannin, wood, alcohol, etc. Beautifully rich, full and multidimensional, this is a tour de force in winemaking and certainly one of the top dozen or so 2005 Bordeaux. Forget it for another 3-5 years and drink it over the following 50-100 years!
Even more flamboyant and sexy than the 2000, the 2005 Pavie has everything you could ever want from a wine. Deep, inky purple-colored, an awesome perfume of cassis, blackberries, toasty oak, graphite, and incredible minerality, full body, sweet tannin, and a blockbuster finish all make for an extraordinary Saint-Emilion. It’s still a baby but offers incredible pleasure today. It’s going to last for another 3-4 decades.
This is monumental. Just a baby with a fresh and intense mouthfeel and density. Full-bodied, velvety and layered. Decadent and rich.
Six years have passed since I last tasted the 2005 Pavie. In that time, the wine has moved into its first plateau of maturity. Heady and explosive, the 2005 possesses tremendous richness right out of the gate. An infusion of inky dark fruit, chocolate, leather, spice, menthol and espresso greets the palate as the 2005 shows off its considerable charms. The style of the era is evident in the wine's rich, extracted feel and strong oak inflections. My preference is to drink the 2005 now, as early signs of aromatic maturity are starting to set in.
The 2005 Pavie is deep garnet with a touch of brick. It skips out of the glass with bright, lively notes of Morello cherries, plum preserves, red roses, and candied violets followed by hints of menthol, dark chocolate, and underbrush. The full-bodied palate is so vibrant and energetic that it sparkles. Youthful red and black fruit notes comingle with mineral and floral sparks, framed by fine-grained tannins and wonderful tension, finishing with epic length and depth. This is a triumph.
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