A blend of 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, from a cool limestone terroir on the plateau, the 2005 Château Pavie Macquin is extraordinary juice, and the finest vintage of this cuvee I’ve ever tasted. Sporting a saturated purple color as well as an off the hook bouquet of crème de cassis, blackberries, smoked earth, chocolate, and Asian spices, with a sensational sense of minerality developing with time in the glass. Deep, full-bodied, massively concentrated, and multi-dimensional, it’s just now at the early stages of its drinking plateau and it will probably keep for another 2-3 decades. Count yourself lucky if you have bottles of this in the cellar!

Bright and fresh, with raspberry, blackberry and black currant fruit still showing vibrancy, while a racy mineral edge and mouthwatering acidity course underneath. Flashes of anise, apple wood and black tea chime throughout. Integrated and melded now, but still quite primary. A wine of precision.—Blind '01/'03/'05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). JM

Inky bluish/purple in color, Pavie Macquin produced a prodigious effort from St.-Emilion in 2005. Its crushed, chalky rock minerality, massive body, and high tannin make for a wine to forget for another decade. Super-loaded, concentrated and powerful, this wine should turn out great, but patience will be required. The blackberry and cassis fruit are there in abundance, but so is a massive structure. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2035.

It appears consumers can’t go wrong with any 2005 with the word “Pavie” in its name. This outstanding terroir, elevated to Premier Grand Cru Classe status in St.-Emilion’s reclassification, is run with impeccable attention to detail by Nicolas Thienpont, who is assisted by winemaking guru, Stephane Derenoncourt. The 2005 Pavie Macquin may turn out to be this duo’s finest wine to date. This is a moderately large vineyard (37 acres) for the area, and the blend tends to be 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. A black/purple color is accompanied by aromas of charcoal, burning embers, crushed rocks, sweet, pure, blueberries and blackberries, chocolaty creme de cassis, and licorice. It possesses massive concentration, phenomenal levels of tannin, and good acidity, but it is even more backward than either Pavie or Pavie Decesse. A modern day elixir that should prove to be monumental in 15-20 years, it will last for 40+ years. 98pts

The 2005 Pavie-Macquin is powerful, dense and also surprisingly tightly wound. There is not much pleasure to be had, at least not today. Time in the glass releases hints of dark fruit, chocolate and spice, but the 2005 is never quite as expressive as I would have hoped. Readers will want to cellar it further or give it quite a bit of aeration. My impression is that the dry conditions left the wine with hard tannins that may never fully soften. To be sure, there are quite a few vintages of the same era that are more compelling.

(14.8% alcohol; 3.39 pH): Fully saturated deep ruby-red. Brooding aromas of cassis, plum, violet, minerals and aromatic herbs hint at knockout depth and purity. Dense, rich and multi-layered, showing great precision and a seamless texture to the painfully young blackberry, cassis, truffle and mineral flavors. Finishes rich, pure and long, with hints of cocoa and balsamic vinegar. This Pavie Macquin is developing at a snail's pace. The product of a very gentle extraction and a longer cuvaison than usual, this is an absolutely memorable, outstanding wine. Ian D'Agata 95+

I find that there is a touch of over-ripeness and brettanomyces on the nose of this Pavie-Macquin: sloes, liquorice, mulberry and dark plum smudged by alcohol. The palate is ripe and decadent on the entry and then it ebbs away as if it has been tapped on the shoulder and reminded that Bordeaux should be elegant. Ergo, I much prefer the refined finish compared to the unruly entry. Give it a few years to coalesce. Tasted December 2012.

Tasted single blind at Southwold. Again like the Larcis -05, there is a lot of extraction on the nose: plum, iodine and a touch of liquorice. Moderate definition. Sweet black fruits, high extraction but lacking some backbone and structure on the linear palate. Ripe plum and blueberry, a touch of black olive on the finish. Well crafted but not memorable. This has closed down and should be cellared for five years or more. Mean scoring here, but I have no doubt it will show better down the line. Drink 2013-2020+ Tasted January 2009. 92pts