2005 Pavie
By Chateau Pavie
2005 Pavie from Château Pavie, Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux
Embarking upon a critique of the 2005 Pavie from Château Pavie, one must first acknowledge the estate’s commitment to excellence. Perched on the right bank of Bordeaux, Château Pavie's efforts have fostered a sophisticated narrative for Merlot-led blends that substantiate both collector intrigue and astute wine investment.
Vintage Ingenuity: the 2005 Benchmark
The 2005 vintage of Saint-Émilion was greeted with enthusiastic claims, marking it out as an exceptional year. Graced with optimal conditions for vine growth and fruit maturation, the 2005 Pavie encapsulates the essence of this landmark vintage. Its composure is stately, having benefited from climatic generosity resulting in a concentration of flavour that is both profound and alluring to the discerning investor.
A Symphony of Texture and Terroir
This particular vintage exudes a complexity which melds seamlessly with ripe tannins, ensuring an awe-inspiring texture. It’s a triumph in the symphony of taste; layer upon layer reveals itself—a fusion of dark fruits, minerality and seasoned oak—the opus of a skilled composer at play with Bordeaux’s innate terroir.
For investors with an eye on longevity, the structure of the 2005 Pavie intimates that it has reached a splendid maturity yet promises further potential for growth—both in bottle complexity and market value.
An exemplar within the canon of fine wines, the 2005 Pavie stands as one of the fortified titans among its peers. It endures as a sublime beacon to both oenophiles and collectors alike—an asset for any portfolio.
In summing up this particular iteration from Château Pavie, I hail its assembly of sensory craftsmanship. For those who seek to enrich their investment compendium with a pageantry of vinous elegance, this offering from the venerable 2005 vintage remains an impeccable selection.
Current market price
$6,130.00
12x75cl
Highest score
100
POP score
184
Scores and tasting notes
Gérard Perse believes this is the greatest Pavie he’s made to date, although certainly I would argue that list includes the 2000, as well as the 2009 and 2010, among his superstars. This wine, which I had both in the 2005 horizontal report in the Wine Advocate, and at a mini-vertical with Perse at the restaurant Maison Boulud in Montreal, looks to be a 75- to 100-year wine. Dense, opaque purple to the rim, with a gorgeously promising nose of blackberries, cassis, graphite and cedar wood just beginning to emerge, it tastes more like a three-year-old than wine that is already a decade old. This beauty is intense and full-bodied, with magnificent concentration, a majestic mouthfeel and a total seamless integration of tannin, wood, alcohol, etc. Beautifully rich, full and multidimensional, this is a tour de force in winemaking and certainly one of the top dozen or so 2005 Bordeaux. Forget it for another 3-5 years and drink it over the following 50-100 years!
Robert Parker Jr - The Wine Advocate, 27 August 2015
Now that the 2005 Pavie is in the bottle, I would place it, qualitatively, a notch below the prodigious 2000, and a few notches above the blockbuster 2003. There are 7,000 cases of this 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon blend. Disregarding the blatant jealousy of his success as well as his “outsider” status, proprietor Gerard Perse has pushed the envelope of quality, fashioning first-growth quality wines from one of Bordeaux’s finest terroirs. In St.-Emilion, only Ausone can be considered to have greater potential in terms of micro-climate and terroir. Pavie’s 2005 exhibits a thick-looking purple color to the rim as well as an exquisite perfume of blueberry and blackberry liqueur, unsmoked cigar tobacco, crushed rocks, damp earth, and hints of truffles and incense. The vineyard’s limestone soils have provided massive concentration, a laser-like precision, fresh, zesty acidity, and massive tannin. Despite the wine’s enormous concentration and intensity, there is a lightness to its style. As Perse has made clear, he is trying to produce modern day versions of such great vintages as 1921, 1929, 1945, and 1947, wines that lasted 50 or more years. I do not understand why Perse receives so much criticism. In the blind tastings of each new vintage conducted by the Grand Jury European, Pavie usually wins against 100 or so other great Bordeaux. As they say, the truth is irrefutable - this is one of the world’s most outstanding wines, and the 2005 Pavie should take its place among the greatest achievements of Bordeaux in the last 50 years. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2060.
Robert Parker Jr - Wine Advocate #176 April 2008
The Pavie ‘05 was raised in 80% new oak for 28 months. The Chateau Pavie 2005 has a very pure, opulent bouquet of kirsch, macerated red cherries, creme de cassis and exotic fruit. It is well defined, generous and warm. The palate is full-bodied with layers of succulent, exotic ripe red fruit that belies the structure underneath. It is a Pavie of immense volume – ravishing and powerful yet not over the top. Superb – this may eclipse the 2009 in the long run. Tasted December 2012.
Neal Martin - Wine Journal Jul 2013