Château Pavie Macquin 2023 en Primeur

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?

C’est une réussite majeure. La densité de l’argile du terroir est exprimée par la profondeur en bouche avec un fruit frais et ciselé. Le style s’affine de millésime en millésime.

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.

The 2023 Pavie Macquin is one of the stars of the vintage. An exceptional, vibrant wine, Pavie Macquin dazzles from start to finish. Seamless tannins wrap around a core of inky red/purplish fruit, lavender, mint, spice and blood orange, all framed by bright, salivating acids. The transition toward higher-density vineyards and greater freshness is paying huge dividends. This is a stellar effort from the château and long-time consultant Stephane Derenoncourt, who has kept Pavie Macquin as one of just a handful of estates he personally follows these days. In a word: Brilliant! Tasted two times.

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.