(97-100 points) A saturated black tulip hue in the glass, the aromatic profile here combines currants, violets, bilberry, rose and lavender, with a gorgeously sooty and savoury backdrop. This opens the door to a palate filled with glorious bilberry and currant fruits, violets, gorse flowers, liquorice, dark chocolate, soot and coffee bean, all resting in a gloriously velvety texture, lifted by the sheer energy of the dark and brooding tannins within, the peppery edges to the fruit, the firm limestone bite which is wrapped around the core of the palate, and the beautifully fresh acidity. This is concentrated, yet perfumed, with layers of dark fruit over dark tannins, but all the while maintaining a sense of freshness and vivacity to its undeniably compact and sinewy build. It finishes with a flourish of rich, bold and grippy limestone tannins, with a long and charged length. A stunning Pavie here, built mostly from Cabernet, from a great terroir, naturally freshened by the limestone but also the natural acid of the vintage. This is an absolute stunner which will – given a few decades – knock your socks off. A unique blend this year, with 60% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and just 30% Merlot in the mix, cropped at a meagre 21 hl/ha. The alcohol is reported to be 14.34%. 97-100/100

(98-99 points) The cabernet franc really comes through, with fine, intense, racy tannins and great length. Chalky and focused. More restrained than past vintages, with superb tension at the end. The most cabernet franc-driven Pavie ever. And it works so well. Precise is the word.

(97-99 points) Showing one of the deepest colors of the vintage, the perfume kicks off with black raspberries, mint leaves, black cherries, flowers, tobacco wrappers, licorice, spice, and espresso aromas. The palate is intensely concentrated, yet, there is so much lift, and energy, the wine feels almost relaxed on your palate. The waves of rich, dense, opulent, lush, and salty, mineral-infused berries start off strong, and keep on going. The mid-palate, and finish delivers its message of ripe, deep, black, with red fruits, spice, crushed stones, camphor, licorice, and dark chocolate without hesitation through to its endnotes that get close to the 60-second mark. The wine blends 60% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, making this the highest percentage of Cabernet ever used in the blend. 14.3% ABV. 3.58 pH. Harvesting took place September 15 - September 26. Yields were 21 hectoliters per hectare. Drink from 2030-2065. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/search-wine-tasting-notes/?szSearch=2025%20pavie

(97-99 points) Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2025 Pavie slowly unfurls to reveal a wonderfully evocative perfume of kirsch, black raspberries, fresh plums, and lilacs, giving way to hints of pencil shavings, wild sage, and crushed rocks. The full-bodied palate shimmers with fantastically dense yet vibrant black and red fruit layers, framed by beautifully ripe, firm, grainy tannins and amazing tension, finishing long with a myriad of mineral and floral sparkles. Sensational.

(96-98+ points) (Saint-Émilion; 60% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot; a final yield of 21 hl/ha; pH 3.58; 14.34% ABV; tasted at the property). The first vintage really to use all of the Cabernet Franc planted by Gerard Perse. Immediately striking in its Cabernet signature, with lovely floral notes and blueberries the first to identify themselves alongside the more familiar black cherry notes. There's graphite and fresh pencil-shavings too, with just a hint of the cedar to come. Lilac, cornflowers and a little rose petal and mimosa. It's lovely to find such delicate notes in a young Pavie. Ample, supple, full and intensely layered – more cashmere in texture than its customary velour, and with more clarity and lift. I really see now the direction of travel here. Perhaps the most aerial recent vintage of Pavie, but still very true to its identity and to its exceptional and unique terroir. 96-98+

Deep dark ruby garnet, opaque core, violet reflections, subtle edge brightening. Fine black berry fruit, a hint of cassis, black cherries, hints of candied orange zest, some nougat, underlaid with subtle precious wood. Powerful, but very juicy, round and elegant, great freshness, ripe, fine tannins, extract sweet and long-lasting, modern, yet very connected to the terroir, great length, sure maturity potential.

Fragrant apple blossom, iris and violet flowers on the nose, brings its A-game from the first moments; coupling bright greengage plums, rose stems, and an intense grip of slate, with creamier blackberries, damson and creme patissiere. A ton of grip and length, this is in it for the long game, with pulses of oyster shell minerality to close things out. Brilliant. Here they did 8 weeks maceration, longer than most, but they felt that the wines needed a little longer to fill out through the mid palate, and for sure this is showing exceptional expansion and tension. Harvest September 15 to 29, first time in the Perse era that this has been entirely in September - and the final vintage under Gerard Perse. Pavie Decesse and Bellevue Mondot are now included in the main wine, bringing their limestone soils to the blend, and this is the highest amount of Cabernet to date. 21hl/ha yield, 3.58ph.

(96-98 points) The first time this château has included this much Cabernet Franc in the blend, the 2025 Château Pavie sports a saturated purple hue as well as a pure, focused bouquet of crème de cassis and assorted blue fruits intermixed with graphite, violets, leafy herbs, and freshly sharpened pencil notes. It's a different beast from the classic Pavie style, with a more focused, straight mouthfeel, building yet beautiful tannins, and a layered, seamless texture on the palate. It might miss a touch of the classic Pavie sexiness, but it's incredibly impressive, balanced, and remarkably long. Hitting 14.34% alcohol with a pH of 3.58, this Saint-Émilion was harvested between September 15th and 26th.

(95-98+ points) Big, dark and intense with juicy liquorice infested fruit, black cherries and a sweet, deep, salty feel. Vibrant, precise and dense, full-bodied and massive and you don’t feel the perfectly integrated soft tannins. This is classic Pavie albeit maybe a little more ‘friendly’ than normal, but still a gorgeous wine with a huge development potential, though it should be ready to enjoy a bit earlier than normal.

(96-98 points) The 2025 Pavie is a total stunner. What a wine. Rich and dazzling in its intensity, the 2025 hits all the right notes. Inky dark red/purplish fruit, exotic spice, mocha, espresso and pomegranate literally stain the palate. The 2025 is going to require the better part of a decade to unwind, but it has a ton of potential and a very bright future. This is the first time Cabernet Franc is the dominant variety in the Grand Vin. The 2025 has plenty of the textural intensity readers have come to expect, but with less of the heavy extraction that marked the earlier years. - Antonio Galloni

Intensely fragrant nose, full of black fruit, chocolate, perfumed violets and cassis. Heady and concentrated. Ripe and fleshy fruit on the palate, the tannins have a really chewy aspect that fills the mouth with texture and grip but with a vein of cooling acidity through the middle. Ends soft and cool, with a long minty, liquorice core. Chewy, fleshy, but cool, I quite like the upfront nature, it’s filling and wide but not overly intrusive or dry. Cool blue fruits and a long slightly chalky powdery finish. All the makings of a great Pavie and feels hands off for what It could have been. 3.58pH. A yield of 21hl/ha.