The 2012 Pavie-Macquin shows how appealing the best wines from this vintage are. Bright, floral and racy, the 2012 is drinking beautifully today. Readers who prefer more aromatic complexity might prefer to cellar the 2012 for another few years, but there is something about the wine's raciness and immediacy that makes it a pure pleasure to taste today.

The Pavie Macquin is a blend of 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon picked between 13th and 18th October at 30hl/ha. It has a gorgeous, sumptuous bouquet with pure dark cherries, Hoi Sin and oyster shells that is extremely pure and beautifully defined. The palate has a cashmere texture, wonderful finesse and very well judged acidity. It is a stunning wine from Pavie-Macquin in a difficult vintage. This would be one of my top picks on the Right Bank. Tasted April 2013. – eRobertParker.com, May 2013

Delightfully fresh and pure, with beautifully expressive aromas of blueberry, raspberry, plum and boysenberry fruit. This tames the grippy, taut side of the Offers a solid, packed feel, with dense plum sauce, licorice and blackberry preserve flavors, pushed by ganache and graphite details. Despite the dense and fleshy feel, there's serious purity here. A violet note mingles with a lightly chalky echo through the lengthy finish. A terrific effort for the vintage. Best from 2017 through 2027. 4,165 cases made – James Molesworth (WineSpectator.com, March 2013)

There is a purity and directness to this wine with blueberry, sliced-mushroom and floral character. Full body, firm tannins and a long and intense finish. Racy. – jamessuckling.com, March 2015

Another wine made by the superstar guru Nicolas Thienpont, this well-situated property of 37 acres on the high clay/limestone plateau in St.-Emilion has produced a blend of 84 % Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. A masculine, virile style of wine with an inky deep purple color, lots of crème de cassis and crushed rock and high tannin. This is thick and powerful, with a layered mouthfeel, good purity, earthiness and spice. Forget it for 4-5 years and drink if over the following two decades.

(85% merlot, 14% cabernet franc and 1% cabernet sauvignon; 30 h/h production): Deep purple-ruby. Penetrating notes of violet and rose complement intense, almost syrupy aromas of strawberry and red cherry. Then dense and suave in the mouth, with rich flavors of red berries and minerals complicated by vanilla and violet. Finishes very rich and long. This year, the merlot was harvested between October 13 and 18 and the cabernet on October 17 and 18. One of my top 15 wines of the vintage. Pavie-Macquin takes its name from its location in the Pavie sector of Saint-Emilion and from the grandfather Albert Macquin of the Corre-Macquin family. Since 1994, Nicolas Thienpoint has been managing the property with the consulting help of Stephane Derenoncourt.

A nose that is very black fruit ripe and oaky; a fairly tannic frame to the crisp and juicy ripe fruit, a muscular expression of both the terroir and the year, which is part of the style of the wine, but with an attractive ripeness of fruit and a good fruit persistence on the finish. Good of its type, but not to my taste, you have to like that chewier more robust style. 2019-30 [M.Schuster, Bordeaux Mar/Apr 2013]

Tasted blind. Dark crimson. Clean and fresh on the nose. A little low key. Very much in the vintage idiom – almost to a point of self-effacement. A hint of green but otherwise the fruit is very gently handled. Good concentration. – jancisrobinson.com, Jan 2016