Château Pavie-Decesse

Although Pavie Decesses's reputation exists in the shadow of its glorious older sibling, topography has nonetheless set it above Château Pavie, situated as it is on Saint-Emilion's limestone plateau. Purchased by Gérard Perse in 1997 (one year before before he bought Château Pavie), Pavie-Decesse is one of the "happy few” Saint-Emilion Grands Crus Classés.

Enjoying the same attention as Château Pavie, whose terroir it essentially shares, Pavie-Decesse achieves a consistency of quality which is the definition of a Great Growth.

Up until 1855, Pavie and Pavie Decesse were one and the same vineyard. Then owner Ferdinand Bouffard separated the vineyards, with both properties ultimately ending up in the hands of the Perse family. The two are, however, very different properties, with their own unique terroir and wine styles. Pavie Decesse is planted in 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, the vine-age averaging 40 years-plus. The wines are lushly opulent and sensually textured, with Gerard Perse stamping his mark and introducing a distinct uplift in quality.

Pavie Decesse is a much smaller vineyard than its grander sibling Château Pavie with just 9.1 hectares of vines perched further up on the crest of the slope on a chalky/limestone soil. Unlike Pavie, the wine is more of a Monocepage with 90% of the vines being Merlot, the remaining 10% Cabernet Franc. The vines are a respectable 43 years old on average. A similar draconian level of green harvesting is practice at Pavie Decesse as at Pavie, with vines pruned down to six buds. The grapes are picked by hand, sorted and then fermented in nine temperature-controlled wooden vats for three weeks. Approximately 2,000 cases are produced per annum with no second label.

The buildings were entirely renovated and the ground floor of the residence was altered to house wooden vinification vats which are an exact copy of those used at Château Pavie.

In addition, the barrel cellar was restored to its original layout as designed by Ferdinand Bouffard.

Geological characteristics

The estate is located on the Saint-Emilion limestone plateau, approximately 85 meters above the Dordogne River. The soil is largely clay-limestone with an asteriated limestone subsoil.

Viticulture

Pruned to six spurs, green harvesting, with an initial leaf thinning on the eastern side of the vines on late June and a second in mid-August in the western side. Hand picking and hand sorting of grapes.

Vinification

Pavie-Decesse is fermented in 3 wooden temperature-controlled vats to keep different lots of wine separate in order to fine tune the final blend. The wine stays on the skins for 3 weeks. Malolactic fermentation in barrel.

Pavie-Decesse is fermented in new oak barrels for 18 to 24 months with racking every 3 months. Final blending takes place just before bottling, without fining or filtering.