DW Wine Club Member Price: $699

Today the Château is still owned by Macquin's descendants, and its vineyard has a prime location atop the plateau overlooking the limestone ledge of the Cote de Saint-Emilion. Château Pavie Macquin's high concentration of clay in its soil is ideal for producing generous and full-bodied Merlot dominated wines.

The harvest was late at Pavie-Macquin as Nicolas Thienpont took the gamble of waiting for the Indian summer weather and only finished picking on the 19th of October. As often is the case, this wine is intensely fruity on the nose with black and blue berry fruit and notes of violets and iris. It has great polish and a full structure with quite tensile tannins which offsets well the exuberance of the fruit. There is good drive and elegance on the finish, promising well for the future.

94-95 points James Suckling "Lots of blackberry and inky character to this year. Always refined and polished with lovely length and medium body. 79% merlot, 19% cabernet franc and 2% cabernet sauvignon." (6/2022)

93-95 points Wine Advocate "Another success in this challenging year is the 2021 Pavie Macquin, a promising effort that offers up aromas of sweet berries, Indian spices, licorice and bay leaf. Medium to full-bodied, layered and incisive, it's a tensile, tightly wound wine that's concentrated and penetrating, concluding with a mineral finish. Its low pH profile means that this is always an estate that gains a lot from élevage, but even at this early stage, it's clear that this has excellent potential. (WK)" (4/2022)

94 points Decanter "Bramble, coffee and caramel notes on the nose. Juicy and vibrant on the palate, this has a gentle coursing of strawberry and blackcurrant fruit with blackcurrant leaf giving a savoury, almost herbal edge, while the crushed stone and slate bring in minerality and salinity on the finish. Detailed and nuanced - I like the overall texture, there is grip and aromatic interest with density, chew and a gorgeous core of acidity that keeps things playful and joyous. Supremely alive and thriving on the palate with a persistence that doesn't let up. I love this and think it will be excellent after ageing. Tasted twice. (GH)" (3/2022)

Accolades: Robert Parker 93-95/100

Bettane & Desseauve 95-96/100

Wine Spectator 92/100

J. Suckling 96/100

Vinous - A. Galloni 94+/100

The Wine Independent 92-94/100

Alexandre Ma 95-97/100

Vinous Neal Martin 93/100

As you’d expect from a wine dominated by Durif, this is a whopper of a red. It was carefully crafted in the darkest corner of the cellar. Why? Because it’s the special project of rising star winemaker David Joeky and he didn’t want anyone to take a look or taste it until he was absolutely ready. So every evening, after the rest of the crew had left, David would retire to the furthest corner of the cellar, where he’d stationed his special tanks of dark, spicy Durif and ripest, peppery Shiraz. We think he’s ‘blended a blinder’ as the locals say. It’s firm and full, yet abundant in gloriously ripe, liquorice and spice scented fruit with an underlying note of oak. Smooth enough to sip on its own, but even better with hearty red meat dishes.