2016 Château Pavie-Decesse, St Emilion, Bordeaux

A Perse wine from up on the limestone plateau where the vines never suffered from dry water stress in 2016, and so this has juice, tension and depth, plus a quite amazingly low 3.43pH. Gorgeous - the best that I remember. 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. Drinking Window 2025 - 2038. jane_anson_mw - Decanter, 3rd April 2017

The 2016 Pavie-Decesse is a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc cropped at just 26 hectoliters per hectare and delivers 14.63% alcohol with a pH of 3.43. It was picked on 12 October and will be matured in 100% new oak. It has a very flamboyant nose for the vintage, eschewing the classicism you might find elsewhere in Saint Emilion with luscious macerated black cherries, blueberry and vanilla pod aromas, a hint of iodine developing in the glass. The palate is full-bodied with succulent, juicy ripe blue and black fruit, the acidity maintaining the freshness and with an almost viscous finish due to the concentration. It is atypical for the vintage, hedonistic and creamy in texture. Go for this if you seek fruit and concentration in 2016. Neil Martin - Wine Advocate #230, 28th April 2017

Blackish crimson. Lively and sinewy but a bit severe and austere - lacks real flesh in the middle. Drying end. Not my style. Too reminiscent of Pavie 2003! Drink 2025-2040. jancis_robinson_mw - 13th April 2017