2016 Espirit de Pavie, Château Pavie Your Store

2016 Espirit de Pavie, Château Pavie

Bordeaux, France

Everything you’d expect from Saint-Émilion’s limestone slopes, but with an easy confidence all its own. The 2016 Esprit de Pavie brims with ripe blackberry, black cherry and plum, wrapped in notes of espresso, cedar and a faint whisper of crushed stone. The palate is plush yet precise with silky Merlot fruit gliding over fine-grained tannins, lifted by a fresh, chalky edge. It’s generous, balanced and effortlessly drinkable, capturing the Pavie spirit in a more approachable, weekday-luxury form.

For when: the table’s set but no one wants to wait for decanting.
Pairs with: roast lamb, rib-eye steak or a rich mushroom cassoulet.
If this wine were: a friend, it’d be the charming younger sibling who’s got impeccable taste and knows it.

Château Pavie, elevated to Premier Grand Cru Classé A status in 2012, sits on the sun-baked limestone terraces of Saint-Émilion’s southeastern plateau, a patchwork of clay, chalk and stone that produces wines of formidable depth and minerality. Owned by Gérard Perse since 1998, the estate has been meticulously modernised from vineyard to cellar, with an unrelenting focus on precision, ripeness and elegance.

Esprit de Pavie is the broader expression of this philosophy sourced from younger vines and neighbouring Right-Bank parcels sharing Pavie’s terroir signature. Predominantly Merlot, with supporting Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s aged in fine French oak to bring polish without weight. The 2016 vintage, celebrated for its poise and perfect ripeness, delivers a supple, beautifully balanced rendition of Pavie’s style: opulent fruit, fine structure, and an unmistakable sense of place.

Whats in the bottle
70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc

£26.00
Taxes included.
  • Producer Information

Commanding one of the most dramatic positions on Saint-Émilion’s limestone plateau, Château Pavie is a name synonymous with both heritage and ambition. The estate’s origins stretch back to Roman times, though its modern reputation was forged under Gérard Perse, who acquired the property in 1998 and transformed it into one of Bordeaux’s most meticulously run châteaux. His vision to craft wines of depth, precision and world-class stature culminated in Pavie’s elevation to Premier Grand Cru Classé A in 2012, cementing its place among the region’s elite.

The vineyard covers roughly 37 hectares on Saint-Émilion’s south-facing slope, a natural amphitheatre of limestone, clay and chalk soils that provide perfect drainage and radiant exposure. The blend leans heavily on Merlot, supported by Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, yielding wines that balance plush richness with striking minerality.

In both vineyard and cellar, the approach is one of absolute precision, hand-harvesting by parcel, gravity-flow winemaking, and careful maturation in new French oak to achieve seamless integration and depth. Alongside the grand vin sits Esprit de Pavie, an elegant second wine that distils the château’s style into a more approachable, early-drinking expression.

Under Perse’s stewardship, Château Pavie has become a benchmark for modern Saint-Émilion: powerful yet poised, rooted in its limestone terroir yet unafraid of bold expression, a château where tradition and innovation meet in perfect equilibrium.

2016 Espirit de Pavie, Château Pavie

£26.00

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