Chateau Pavie-Macquin

Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

1er Grand Cru Classé B

last update : Sunday 08 January 2012

Pavie Macquin is a 15 hectare family-owned estate. The latter part of its name comes from Albert Macquin (1852-1911), grandfather of the present owners Benoît and Bruno Corre, Marie-Jacques Charpentier, and their children.

Introducing grafted vines, Albert Macquin was responsible for saving the vineyard after it had been ruined by phylloxera.

Nicolas Thienpont has managed the estate since 1994. Stéphane Derenoncourt is consulting enologist.

In September 2006, Pavie Macquin was promoted a Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé (the classification is currently waiting to be upheld in court).

The north-east by south-west facing vineyard is located in a single block on a plateau 75 to 100 meters high. Neighboring estates include Châteaux Trottevieille and Troplong Mondot to the west and Pavie to the south.

Pavie-Maquin has clay-limestone soil on a 40 cm. layer of loam covering an asteriated limestone bedrock. All these factors provide the terroir with good, regular hydric regulation and excellent natural drainage.

A pragmatic biodynamic approach to vineyard management has been in effect since the late 1980s. The vineyard is regularly plowed and chemical sprays are limited to an absolute minimum. Each individual vineyard plot is tended differently according to the type of soil, the age of the vines, and the grape variety. The grapes are picked into small crates before sorting on a conveyor belt. They are then put whole (without being crushed) into cement or oak vats, depending on the plot. As opposed to some other well-known wines in the appellation, Pavie-Macquin does not practice pre-fermentation maceration. Only indigenous yeast is used and fermentation is as natural as possible. The estate sometimes uses micro-oxygenation in order to avoid problems of reduction. Extraction is very gentle, and done by pumping over in cement vats and punching down the cap in wooden vats. The wine is aged in new oak barrels, without racking. Thanks to this winemaking approach and respect for the terroir, Pavie-Macquin is now considered a great wine with considerable aging potential. It is intensely rich, concentrated, and fruity, even in its youth.

In the Bottle

Recently promoted a Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé B, Pavie-Macquin has become one of the most reliable wines in the appellation. It is especially appreciated by wine lovers because of the way in which its remarkable terroir is faithfully reflected.

Pavie-Macquin has been reliably good for more than a decade, and not a single recent vintage has disappointed. 2005 Pavie-Macquin is undoubtedly the finest of good recent vintages, but 1998 also has enormous charm as well as first class aging potential.

The château's pricing policy is relatively reasonable, particularly when compared to the inflation at some neighboring estates... Château Pavie-Macquin is a wine for people in the know!

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WINE PRODUCED BY THE ESTATE

Pavie-Macquin, Les Chênes de Macquin (second wine)

COMPARISON WITH AOC - SAINT-EMILION GRAND CRU

Vintage	Absolute score	Relative score to the Appellation	Standard deviation

2009	94.1	102.8	1.96
2008	93.3	103.4	2.11
2007	91.5	102.6	1.66
2006	92.6	103.0	1.52
2005	90.8	103.2	4.42
2004	90.4	103.8	3.15
2003	88.6	102.7	5.21
2002	87.9	102.9	2.97
2001	88.2	104.2	6.06
2000	89.0	103.3	3.66
1999	89.8	105.2	4.63
1998	91.5	103.9	5.21
1997	90.7	105.4	0.58

TASTING NOTES

Alain Bringolf - 06/2005

Smooth, elegant bouquet of red fruit, vanilla, and truffle.
Well-focused and full-bodied on the palate. The aftertaste is dominated by fresh tannin that should integrate in 3-5 years.
Good aging potential (10 years).