The 2021 Château Pavie was one of the few wines in the vintage that got a big "wow" in my notes. Based on 52% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, it's a full-bodied, dense, powerful, beautiful 2021 with classic Pavie darker, richer fruits, notes of spicy oak, chocolate, and violets, ripe velvety tannins, and a great finish. It's not at the 2019 or 2020 level, but don't hold that against it. This is pure brilliance in 2021 and one of the wines of the vintage. June 2022

One of the darkest colored wines of the vintage, the wine kicks off with black, blue and dark red fruit. Spicy, long, and fresh, with strong oceanic influences, espresso, chocolate, flowers, herbs and salty, wild cherries in the perfume. The wine has equal amounts of richness, freshness, length and energy, with a finish that showcases its deep, limestone soils. There is tension and ample dark, red fruits that carry through to the endnote. The wine blends 52% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.14% ABV pH 3.67. Harvesting took place September 28 - October 12. The lateness of vintage is due to waiting for the Cabernets to ripen, which was a key to wines success. Drink from 2028-2060. Tasted EP May 2022

Lots of blackberry and inky character to this year. Always refined and polished with lovely length and medium body. 79% merlot, 19% cabernet franc and 2% cabernet sauvignon.
James Suckling, May 2022

Beautifully poised, dark ruby in colour, full of rippled fruit flavours, stands out in the appellation. It hasn't got miraculously riper than all the rest but it is handled with skill, and has a truly juicy mouthwatering finish and slate tannins that show grip and tenacity against the serious, austere structure. Expect raspberry, greengage and redcurrant fruits that need to fatten out a little over ageing, but everything is in place to do so. This is the plateau speaking. 37hl/h yield, harvest October 4 to 19, 50% new oak. Tasted twice.
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux, May 2022

Lovely aromas, ripe blackcurrants, damsons and plums, milk chocolate, cinnamon and vanilla. Round and mouthfilling, this has energy and vibrancy with good acidity lifting the fruit up, tannins providing chew and texture, and the minerality/austerity showing the terroir in the glass. A spiced liquorice and clove element gives the backbone of the wine, adding structure and nuance, while the fruit gives the seduction but it’s a little tight still, linear and straight - staying just the right side of full extraction. Doesn't feel so immediately approachable but this has an excellent youthful character, still with depth and layers, that will round out over ageing. A more classic, immensely enjoyable and paired-back Pavie. All the wines in the range really do show a sense of place, which at the end of the day is what you want if you're a terroir purist! Drinking Window: 2027 - 2050
Tasted by: Georgina Hindle (at Bordeaux, 01 Apr 2022)

Another success in this challenging year is the 2021 Pavie Macquin, a promising effort that offers up aromas of sweet berries, Indian spices, licorice and bay leaf. Medium to full-bodied, layered and incisive, it's a tensile, tightly wound wine that's concentrated and penetrating, concluding with a mineral finish. Its low pH profile means that this is always an estate that gains a lot from élevage, but even at this early stage, it's clear that this has excellent potential.
William Kelley, April 2022

Very attractive nose, again speaking very true to limestone terroir, with layers of cherry, plum, ripe strawberry, raspberry, sweet spice and green tea. Immediate sweetness on the palate with ripe, intense, juicy fruit, plenty of red and black cherry, plum and citrus. Very bright and fresh, beautifully framed by precise and texture-giving tannins which carry nice droplets of fruit and dry, fine mineral characters. Delicious and impressive.
April 2022

The 2021 Pavie is a blend of 52% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, aging in 75% new oak. Deep garnet-purple in color, it charges out of the gate with powerful notes of baked black plums, wild blueberries, and boysenberry preserves, plus wafts of cedar, graphite, fallen leaves, and star anise. Medium-bodied, the palate is tightly wound with tons of black fruit layers, framed by firm, grainy tannins and amazing tension, finishing very long and mineral-laced. pH 3.67. May 2022 EP Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Independent

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2021 Pavie Macquin charges out of the gate with bold notions of blackberry pie, red currant jelly and kirsch, plus hints of crushed rocks, pencil shavings, and violets. Medium-bodied, the palate has beautiful restraint and elegance, featuring a quiet intensity of black and red berry flavors, framed by plush tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long and mineral laced.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, May 2022

The 2021 Pavie Macquin was picked from 4 to 19 October at 37hL/ha, the Grand Vin representing around 80% of the crop. Matured in 50% new oak, it clearly has the most fruit concentration amongst Nicolas Thienpont's portfolio with black cherries, blueberry and bilberry fruit, just a faint touch of orange rind in the background. The palate is fresh and well-structured on the entry, insistent grip and a pleasant seam of sapidity running through this Saint-Émilion. More "vertical" than usual, this is nicely focused with a delineated, quite mineral-driven finish that showcases its asteriated limestone terroir. Excellent.
Neal Martin, Vinous, May 2022

The 2021 Pavie Macquin is a rich, heady wine, as it typically is. Dark red fruit, leather, smoke, licorice, mocha and espresso build nicely in the glass. The tannins are a bit firmer than they usually are, but there's plenty of creaminess and texture lurking beneath. The 2021 needs time to fully come together. In some tastings it was a bit austere, while in other moments, the trademark Pavie-Macquin sensuality was more in evidence. Tasted three times.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2022

Deep purple-crimson. Aromatically rich with red-berry and vanilla notes. Fleshy fruit on the palate. Powerful tannic frame, certainly within the context of the vintage. Well knit. Definite terroir note. Drives on the finish. Potential. (JL)
Drink 2028 – 2040
Jancisrobinson.com, May 2022