2010 Chateau Pavie Macquin Premier Grand Cru Classe B, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 12x75cl

Vinous 94+

(14.7% alcohol; 3.24 pH): Fully saturated deep red. Ripe aromas of spicy red cherry jam, plum, dried herbs, sweet spices and clove. Rich, ripe and dense on entry, then austere and precise in the middle, showing deep flavors of cassis, cinnamon, minerals and savory herbs. Finishes lush, floral and long, with a chocolatey note. This bright, seamless wine strikes me as a very ripe but not over-the-top style of Pavie Macquin. It improves noticeably with aeration, becoming more minerally and less obviously ripe, and I really didn’t notice the high alcohol. Great wine. [Ian D’Agata, 03/01/2014]

Robert Parker 95

This is always an extremely masculine, dense, burly wine, and the 2010, which tips the scales at 14.5% alcohol (just slightly under that of the 2009), has a final blend of 80% Merlot and the rest virtually all Cabernet Franc, with just 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. Loads of crushed rock and chalkiness, along with licorice, black truffle, smoked game and black fruits dominate the aromatics and flavor. Backward, formidably endowed, full-bodied and almost atypically massive and huge, with gargantuan extraction, this is a wine for patient connoisseurs to forget about for close to a decade. Anticipated maturity: 2022-2040+. [28/02/2013]

Anticipated maturity: 2022-2040