March 7, 2024 - Big, rich and ripe. Lots of sediment.
February 24, 2024 - Bordeaux 2004 - 20 Years On - 33 Reds: All wines tasted blind, not decanted. Observations: 1) 2004 is a mediocre vintage overall, with many pleasant wines, but without the depth of better years. 2) At the top, the vintage produced some classic, old-school wines with lots of freshness and fresh fruit. 3) At the lower end, many wines lacked fruit and ripe tannins, resulting in some astringent and slightly drying wines. 4) An alarming number of Right Bank wines (5 out of 16, no Left Bank wine) were oxidized, including some heavyweights like Petrus, Evangile or Figeac. An unacceptably high proportion of faulty wines. 5) I’m not sure that the 2004 are currently in a good phase, many of my scores were lower than in previous tastings. The question is if it’s just a weaker phase or the beginning of the end. 6) At the top and the only wine >95pts was a layered Le Pin (rated 96pts), with a charming Vieux Chateau Certan, a surprising Issan and Clos l'Eglise, as well as an elegant Lafite sharing second place (all rated 94pts).
TN: Beautiful coffee, ripe red berries, dark berries, some minerality on the nose. One of the better bouquets in terms of complexity and precision. Unfortunately, there is some heat noticeable too but luckily not on the palate which displays fine dark and red fruit, some leather and minerality. The structural frame is good with fine tannins and a well-integrated acidity. Like La Mondotte or Peby Faugeres, Pavie usually produces quite big and often overwhelming wines, but not in 2004.
November 11, 2023 - A full-bodied and powerful treat from the Right Bank. Pavie has been my go to wine for important meals. Occasionally it disappointed due to weak vintage and/or lackluster decanting. But this time it reconfirmed itself as a well balanced wine with strong tannins and alcohol level, as well as notable nose of dark jammy berries, as well as creamy and leathery taste. 3hrs of decanting really worked well.
March 26, 2023 - Popped and poured, then refrigerated the remaining part of the bottle for the following day. This is a medium red wine. The bottle was caked with significant sediment (and a striking red stain of the bottle glass across from the cake, to an extent that I don’t recall ever seeing before) and there was some sediment in the final glass despite my standing this bottle up for a few months, so decanting or filtering could be worthwhile. The nose was great off of the bat, with plum, earth, rich saddle leather, and mushrooms. In the mouth, this is a mid-weight and lush wine, displaying medium fruit and some integrated wood aspects. The finish is chewy yet juicy, with old chest/forest elements and a slightly drying character at the very end. Overall, this was a good wine generally, although the nose was clearly the best aspect (I’d give the nose alone 95 points). Consistent with the producer and the era, there was probably a tad too much wood applied here, and that seemed more evident on day 2, both on the nose and particularly in the mouth. I have some hesitation about whether this gets better or starts to go downhill, so I’d suggest opening bottles and enjoying straightaway, maybe with an hour or so of air but not much more. 93 points.
February 20, 2023 - This started off like I was tasting with a toothpick in my mouth and really needed the better part of an hour to shed its oak cloak, but once it did, it unleashed aromas of ripe black and red fruits, cocoa bean and tobacco leaf which gave way to a rich, concentrated, blackberry and earthy flavored palate that lingered.
February 14, 2023 - Drinking perfectly, the wine is built around its core of black and dark red, oceanic fruits, espresso, smoke, licorice, and spice with a minty edge. Full, round, and ready, no decanting needed, just pull the cork and enjoy. Drink from 2023-2038.
January 28, 2023 - Stunning bottle of wine ... watch out for the sediment though.
Amazing diverse nose, very powerful still, Bordeaux at its best.
Don't see any improvement, at the right spot for me right now.
Drink & enjoy !
Mathijs
October 10, 2022 - Very good , drinking well. Agree with Shug’s assessment
May 11, 2022 - Smoke, soy and candied plums on the nose. Palate was reminiscient of appasimento style wine with stewed fruit and raisiny qualities, not my cup of tea.. Still ample acidity and fine tannins. Probably at its apogee.
April 23, 2022 - Same notes as before - drinking beautifully right now.