Chateau Pavie Macquin 2023

JAMES SUCKLING: "This is a twitchy, lively red with brambleberry, black olive and a real sense of limestone. The tannins are very well integrated. Lots of energy. Medium body. Extremely long. Very cool, fine wine from this estate in this year. 3.35 pH. 14.2% alcohol. 82% merlot, 17% cabernet franc and 1% cabernet sauvignon. Best ever?"

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Flowers, red berries, spice, licorice, lavender, and sea-salt are featured in the perfume. The wine on the palate is electric, edgy, fresh, and fruity. The berries are ripe, sweet, and pure, with a strong essence of minerality that you really sense as the wine lingers on your palate. The key to the wine this year is two fold. First, the newer plantings from 2013-2016 have started maturing. In the cellars, the aging program is more gentle, with close to half the amount of punch downs, so you have less extractions which allows the wine to feel more relaxed on the palate. Clearly, this is in contention for the best vintage of Pavie Mac, (As it is affectionally known) ever produced. The wine blends 82% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. 14.1% ABV, 3.5 pH. The harvest took place September 18 - October 3. Drink from 2029-2055."

DECANTER: "Super fragranced on the nose, really floral and evocative with heady aromas - expressive, ripe and sweet fruit elements too. Super high acidity on the palate, but actually this really works with a soft chalky, powdery bite to the tannins. It’s touching on lean, more straight and less concentrated than Larcis Ducasse at this point. The focus here is the fun, lifted side. So precise, finessed, and detailed with layers of fine tannins, bright fruit and tons of energy yet still with concentration and firm red summer berry fruit. I love it."

LISA PERROTTI-BROWN: "The 2023 Pavie Macquin is deep garnet-purple in color. Wow! It prances out with a showy perfume of lilacs, iris bulb, star anise, sandalwood, and Sichuan pepper leading to a core of redcurrant jelly, wild blueberries, and black raspberries plus earthy suggestions of moss-covered tree bark and fallen leaves. The medium to full-bodied palate shimmers with energetic red and black berry layers, framed by firm fine-grained tannins and magic tension, finishing very long with lots of chalky and red berry sparks. This is electric. The pH this year is 3.40."

WEINWISSER: "82 % Merlot, 17 % Cabernet Franc, 1 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 48 hl/ha. Dicht verwobenes Bouquet, Schattenmorellensaft, Waldhimbeere, Lavendel und Veilchen. Im zweiten Ansatz Alpenheidelbeere, Lakritze und Graphit. Am saftigen Gaumen mit samtiger Textur, engmaschigem Tanninkorsett, vibrierender Rasse, stützenden mineralischen kleinen Kugeln, die den Wein hochziehen und länger machen, wie ein Mille-feuille. Im konzentrierten, nicht enden wollenden Finale blaue Beeren, edle Mineralik und feinkörnige Adstringenz."

JEB DUNNUCK: "An open, expressive vintage for this cuvée, the 2023 Château Pavie Macquin still has that classic darker cherry and cassis-driven perfume as well as beautiful minerality, medium to full body, a ripe, layered, yet focused mouthfeel, and ripe yet integrated tannins. It has the elegant style of the vintage while still being a classic Pavie Macquin. It's going to need 7-8 years of bottle age, but it's clearly an impressive, beautiful wine in the making. Tasted multiple times."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "Aromas of sweet raspberries, cherries and plums mingle with notions of licorice and creamy new oak, introducing the 2023 Pavie Macquin, a medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated wine with a deep core of fruit, tangy acids and powdery tannins. As higher density plantings on the plateau with superior vine genetics start to enter into production, and as the south of the property is restructured, this estate's tannins are becoming more refined, even if the very low pH of 3.35 still tends to foreground the wine's structure."

VINUM: "Faszinierender Duft, reife Frucht, würzige Noten, Veilchen, Blütentee, Kräuter; druckvoll am Gaumen, hat Würze und Rasse, delikate, rote Frucht, feinkörniges Tannin, feuriges Finale. Viel Eleganz in diesem Jahr."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, tiefer Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Lakritze und kandierte Veilchen, feine Holzwürze, reife rote Kirschen, intensives Bukett. Saftig, rotbeerig, zeigt eine betonte Frische, reife Tannine, mineralisch, dezente Süße, ein sehr charmanter Stil, ein animierender Speisenbegleiter mit Reifepotenzial."