Pavie Macquin 2008

`Château Pavie Macquin 2008 is a full-bodied Merlot-based red wine from the St-Emilion appellation of Bordeaux. Château Pavie Macquin is a prestigious Premier Grand Cru Classe B estate located in Saint Emilion. Under the guidance of the formidable winemaking consultancy duo Stephane Derenoncourt and Nicolas Thienpont, Pavie Macquin has emerged as one of the leading Right Bank properties of recent years. Thienpont introduced organic and then biodynamic winemaking in the vineyards, a focus on which has contributed greatly to the tension and concentration of the wines. "The 2008 Pavie-Macquin was decanted for 60 minutes before pouring. It is surprisingly backward on the nose and demanded another 30 minutes to really open, offering luscious scents of black cherry, boysenberry, crushed violet and light camphor scents that recede with continued aeration. The palate is still concentrated with layers of black fruit tinged with dark chocolate, a little heady in style but retaining sufficient balance to uphold its freshness. It is a feisty and extrovert Pavie-Macquin that feels undiminished at a decade out and in fact, I would afford bottles another four or five years to allow more terroir expression and secondary notes to develop. This has enormous potential, but winemaker Nicolas Thienpont produced a wine for those with patience." Neal Martin, 2018