2020 Pavie Macquin
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Tasting notes
Pavie Macquin, as is typical, is not afraid to push the ripeness here. Nor does it need to be, as it has the underpinning firmness of quality tannins to provide a balancing structure and freshness to the palate. The wine shows excellent high-quality oak influence with lovely toasted, dry spice character alongside perfumed scents of lavender, violets, incense and peppery spice. It is an amazingly complex nose. The palate is full of baked blueberry and sweet black plum fruit. It is so juicy on the palate, while the tannins provide a great counterpoint – very fine, detailed and layered. The wine finishes with a lovely energy and focus, despite the high levels of ripeness and concentration.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Tasted blind. Deepest crimson. Reluctant on the nose, very dark, slightly charry but vibrant fruit underneath. Rich, deep and harmonious for a long future. Firm but rounded tannins, masses of fresh fruit and great length. Powerful and balanced. (JH)
The 2020 Pavie Macquin has a very precise bouquet. The oak here is beautifully integrated and focused with a sense of tension. This palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins. It is feisty and peppery at first, but it coheres nicely in the glass with real complexity and drive toward the finish. This is a very fine Saint-Émilion that will evolve well in bottle. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.
The 2020 Pavie Macquin is performing well in bottle, unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet raspberries and cherries mingled with notions of orange zest, violets, spices, bay leaf and vine smoke. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it's deep and fleshy, its ample core of fruit framed by youthfully firm, chalky tannins. As usual, it's more structured than Larcis Ducasse, and it remains a bottling that will demand some patience, even if the Thienpont team have subtly eased off on extraction over the last few vintages, a welcome trend that I hope will be pushed further.
About the producer
On the hill of Pavie, this property’s 15 hectares of vines neighbour those of Troplong Mondot and Pavie. Under Stéphane Derenoncourt and Nicolas Thienpont, the property was promoted to Premier Grand Cru Classé B status in 2006.