Tasted blind at the 2007 Bordeaux horizontal in Southwold. The Pavie-Decesse 2007 has a ripe nose of briary, blackberry and dark cherry with some lovely earthy undertones, good definition and focus. The palate is well-defined and generous, soft tannins, perhaps missing some backbone but the plush finish is attractive. Very seductive, this vies with the top dogs in 2007. Tasted January 2011.

Gerard Perse’s tiny vineyard was cropped at 26 hectoliters per hectare, and the final blend was 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc (14.5% alcohol). It boasts great intensity, a dense purple color, and beautiful aromas of sweet mulberries, black cherries, cedar, crushed rocks, and white chocolate as well as a chalky character (which gives the wine superb minerality). The wine is expansively flavored, and the tannins are remarkably sweet and well-integrated. An atypical blockbuster for the 2007 vintage, it should drink beautifully for 15-20 years.

Good deep ruby. Blackberry, minerals, violet pastille, licorice and pepper on the nose, along with a rocky quality characteristic of this calcaire-rich site. Juicy and very intense but youthfully imploded, with a restrained sweetness and terrific precision and grip to the mineral and crushed cassis flavors. Finishes firmly tannic and very long, with terrific energy. This should evolve slowly.

Bright medium ruby. Lively aromas of kirsch, bitter chocolate, minerals and licorice, lifted by a peppery element. Suave and fine-grained, showing less obvious structure and power than the Bellevue-Mondotte that preceded it but a finer grain. Then broader and longer on the aftertaste, with more minerally lift. The crop level here was 31 hectoliters per hectare, according to owner Gerard Perse, who noted that the average age of vines here is a good 20 years higher than those of Bellevue-Mondotte.

90% Merlot; on the plateau above Ch Pavie. Very dark. A bit cheesy and overdone on the nose. Dark and jammy. It’s a fruit cordial rather than a wine. Lots of sweetness. Tough minerals and chew on the end. But it’s certainly serious. Tarry finish without enough juice in the middle – more reminiscent to me of the exaggerations of the Perse house style. (JR)