PAVIE DECESSE [ST EMILION] 2018 750ML

From an incredible terroir on the upper plateau, just above Pavie, the 2018 Château Pavie Decesse is a normal blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc brought up in mostly new French oak. Its dense purple color is followed by an incredibly classic limestone-driven bouquet of chalky minerality, white flowers, truffle, lead pencil, and cassis and blackberry-like fruits. This carries to an incredibly pure, full-bodied Saint-Emilion with nicely integrated acidity, flawless balance, building tannins, and a great finish.

Aromas of reduced blackberry and blueberry with black licorice and dried flowers. It’s full-bodied with chewy yet polished tannins and a long finish. A little tight and reserved now, but shows intensity and focus. Powerful.

Composed of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc with a pH of 3.57 and 14.52% alcohol, the 2018 Pavie Decesse is deep garnet-purple in color, bounding out of the glass with exuberant notes of stewed black and red cherries, plum pudding and blackberry preserves, leading to an undercurrent of Indian spices, cardamom, camphor and star anise, plus a waft of woodsmoke. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is completely coated with black fruit preserves and exotic spices, supported by a firm, velvety texture and bags of freshness, finishing on a lingering menthol note.

A stunner, with waves of cassis, creamed raspberry and plum reduction that are thoroughly seductive while staying focused and driven thanks to a deeply imbedded graphite edge. There's melted licorice, sweet toast and warmed anise notes for extra sparkle throughout, while the fruit just pumps on the through the finish.

The 2018 Pavie-Decesse is heady and explosive in the glass. Inky red/purplish berry fruit, rose petal, lavender, mint and cinnamon are all kicked up. Racy and opulent to the core, with impeccable balance, Pavie-Decesse has so much to offer. It has come together beautifully over the last two years and today shows a bit less brute power than it did as a barrel sample.