Chateau Pavie 2000

100 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Give Gerard Perse credit. People thought his numerous assurances that 2000 was the greatest Pavie ever produced were premature and arrogant. However, after tasting this extraordinary blend of 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon (made from low yields of 28-30 hectoliters per hectare), six separate times in 2003, it is unquestionably one of the most monumental wines Bordeaux has ever produced. Bottled in March 2003, about nine months later than other 2000s, the colour is an opaque purple, and the bouquet offers up notes of liquid minerals, blackberries, cherries, and cassis intermixed with spice box, cedar, and white flowers. On the palate, it exhibits a massive display of richness and extract. Yet, with pinpoint delineation and vibrancy as well as a 60+ second finish, this is the kind of phenomenal wine that Perse's critics feared he might produce - a no-compromise, immortal wonder that represents the essence of one of Bordeaux's greatest terroirs. Life is too short not to own and consume the 2000 Pavie. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2050.