2008 Chateau Pavie - Bordeaux FUTURES

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Brand: Chateau Pavie
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend
Region: Bordeaux St. Emilion
Category: France
Size: 750 ml
Ratings: RP 96-98+ WS 92-95 IWC 92-94

Wine Advocate

Robert Parker recently released his latest Wine Advocate including his report on the 2008 vintage in Bordeaux. He sees many wines from 2008 rivaling their 2005s.

"... the quality of the 2008 vintage turned out to be excellent, with a number of superb wines that are close to, if not equal to the prodigious 2005 or 2000 vintages (two years with many of the best wines I have ever tasted from top to bottom)"

Reviews

Robert Parker 96-98+ points

Is the 2008 Pavie superior to the 2005 and 2000? While that is impossible to know at this stage of its development, it will certainly be one of the three greatest Pavies made under the administration of Chantal and Gerard Perse. Cropped at a very low 30 hectoliters per hectare, the final blend is a classic Pavie combination of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. The 14.5% natural alcohol is the highest ever achieved at this estate. The inky/blue/purple color is followed by a wine with a concentrated, full-bodied texture, a layered mouthfeel, fresh acids, abundant tannin, and a 50-60-year evolution ahead of it. Compared to the enormous, but backward 2005, the 2008 seems even less evolved at a similar stage. Sweet creme de cassis, black cherry, licorice, and smoky barbecue characteristics combine with a liqueur of minerality that resonates from this terroir that is considered to be among the top dozen or so vineyard sites in Bordeaux. This remarkable offering, from a person who has, thankfully, ignored the petty jealousy and unfair criticism of his administration, is another St.-Emilion for your children's children. For the fact-mongers, this cuvee was hand-harvested between October 13-21, with the grapes put in small plastic containers. Everything is moved by gravity flow, and there is no fining or filtration following a slightly longer than normal aging (28-30 months) in oak casks.

Wine Spectator 92-95 Points

This is very Porty, with lots of fruit and richness. Big and powerful. A blockbuster style. -JS

International Wine Cellar 92-94 Points

Deep ruby-purple. Floral nose offers red cherry, plum, cinnamon and cloves beneath a healthy coating of sexy vanillin oak. Austere but not dry on entry, with plenty of lovely red berry, mint and tobacco flavors displaying amazing purity as well as admirable restraint. Though this is a typically tannic Pavie, the tannins are very smooth and the wine seems by far the best balanced of those in the Perse stable (especially compared to Pavie-Decesse, which showed aggressive tannins that overpowered that wine's fruit). A more elegant, less massive and ultimately more enjoyable version of Pavie than some past vintages. For my money, this will be of the better Pavies of recent memory, a wine of real grace and refinement but with a broodingly masculine personality that lurks just beneath the surface.

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