2021 Château Pavie-Decesse 750ml

The 2021 Pavie-Decesse is the final vintage that will be produced, as the two hectares will be blended into Pavie (along with Bellevue-Mondotte). This has fine delineation on the nose with predominantly black fruit, melted tar, dark chocolate and light mocha scents. The chocolate element actually becomes more pronounced with further aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with sapid black fruit, quite mineral-driven and well-balanced with black pepper and clove toward the finish. It's a very decent way to bow out in a tricky vintage.

Curling tobacco and saffran spice, edges of bitter chocolate, tannins are already supple, supporting savoury blueberry fruit. Beautiful density and weight, clear grip and lift, subtle complexity, can easily open in three or four years, and expect any remaining bottles to last 15 to 20 years. Thoroughly enjoyable. 33.6hl/h yield. This is the last vintage of Pavie Decesse, so this is the time to buy it if you are a fan.

The 2021 Pavie-Decesse, where 1.5 of the 3.0-hectares was replanted in 2019, was picked on a single day - 4 October at 33.60hL/ha. It has an intense, almost flamboyant bouquet with generous black and blue fruit, hints of strawberry and incense developing in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied and a little oaky on the entry (80% new wood). Firm structure, just a slight edginess on the mid-palate with a grippy, graphite-tinged finish, here, I might have just dialled down the new oak to find more terroir expression on the finish. This will be interesting to revisit once in bottle. 14.19% alcohol