One of the wines of the vintage is the 2018 Chateau Pavie, and Gerard Perse continues to produce one of the greatest wines in the world, in just about every vintage. Based on 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2018 shows the slightly more restrained style of the estate today yet still brings classic Pavie richness, depth, and grandeur. Revealing a deep purple color as well as a sensational bouquet of creme de cassis, damp earth, tobacco, chalk, and lead pencil shavings, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, incredible purity, a dense, concentrated mid-palate, and a liqueur of rocks-like sense of minerality on the blockbuster finish. There's a backward, inward style here that actually reminds me of the 2000. This is another magical, probably immortal wine from this terroir that marries power with elegance perfectly. Don't miss it!

This is a very pretty and structured Pavie with a beautiful elegance and depth. Full body and a great core of elegant fruit, surrounded by very fine tannins. Very polished. Extremely long. Finesse with power.

The 2018 Pavie is composed of 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, harvested October 1-10 with yields of 38 hectoliters per hectare. The wine has a 3.58 pH and 14.48% alcohol. Very deep purple-black in color, the nose starts off quiet and stern, swiftly growing exponentially in the glass to reveal powerful plum preserves, fruitcake, coffee beans, smoked meats and black olives scents with emerging nuances of roses, hoisin, molten chocolate and licorice plus a waft of candied violets. WOW—the palate explodes with waves of black fruit preserves, exotic spices and savory chocolate, framed by very firm, super ripe, velvety tannins and an electric backbone of freshness, finishing with epic length and energy. Amazing, singular wine—it could only be Pavie.

This is packed with raspberry, plum and boysenberry compote flavors that sail through thanks to the unencumbered feel provided by the polished structure. Fine chalky threads curl throughout as this opens in the glass, with flamboyant flashes of apple wood, anise and violet emerging through the finish. Youthfully dense, but everything is in proportion. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2025 through 2040.