2020 Château Pavie 750 ml CA ONLY

It’s our sincere pleasure to offer you the opportunity to purchase Bordeaux we have pre-purchased from the 2020 vintage at release pricing. ‘En Primeurs’ is a unique way of buying wine from Bordeaux, France. Technically, it means buying the wine before it is bottled and released to the market. Each year in Bordeaux (~April), the whole city springs to life as wine enthusiasts from around the world gather to taste the vintage harvested the year prior, straight from the barrel (like a sneak-preview for wines!).  At that time, even before bottling, the wine can be secured at a lower price to be delivered after ~2y when it has finished aging.

Estate History
Chateau Pavie is one of the oldest and most prestigious estates in St Emilion, a wine region in Bordeaux, France. The origins of the chateau date back to the 4th century, when it was a Roman villa. The name Pavie comes from the Latin word for peach, as the slopes of the estate were covered with peach trees. The chateau has changed hands many times over the centuries, but it has always been renowned for its quality and terroir. In 1998, Chateau Pavie was acquired by Gerard Perse, a former supermarket tycoon who invested heavily in modernizing the vineyards and winery. Under his ownership, Chateau Pavie has achieved unprecedented success and recognition, becoming one of only four estates to be classified as Premier Grand Cru Classe A in 2012. Chateau Pavie produces about 70,000 bottles of wine per year, which are sold at high prices around the world.

2020 Vintage
St-Emilion had an average yield of 36.7hl/ha, which was lower than the yields in 2018 (39.7hl/ha) and 2019 (43hl/ha), as well as the 10-year-average of 39.1hl/ha. The spring was warm and humid with February, April, and May being warmer than average by 3.5°C and 2.2°C respectively. This led to a large onset of mildew. At the end of March, there were two nights of localized frost and generally rainy conditions throughout the month. From early April onwards, the weather was hot, sunny, and dry with a drought period lasting 55 days between June 20 and August 9-10. Some vines received rain between August 9-14 which helped restart growth. However, some grapes were raisened leading to crop losses. An early and quick harvest began in the first half of September with sunny, warm, dry days and cool nights giving maturity and freshness to the grapes. Rain came at the end of September.


Blend
50% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Franc, and 16% Cabernet Sauvignon

99-100 Pts James Suckling