Château Pavie Arômes de Pavie

Doing too much often results in not being able to do anything well. That is why, sometimes, it is better to do fewer things, but do them well. And that’s how it is in many French wineries, where they only focus on two wines... but they are high quality wines. This is what they do at Château Pavie, a winery in the A.O.C. Saint Émilion in Bordeaux (southern France), where only two wines are produced: Château Pavie 1er Grand Cru Classé "A" and Château Pavie Arômes de Pavie.

And Château Pavie Arômes de Pavie is the little brother of the family. A red blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon that undergoes malolactic fermentation and is aged in new oak barrels.

Château Pavie Arômes de Pavie starts life on the 37 hectares that this winery has on the slopes of Pavie, southeast of the town of Saint-Emilion, on land that was where red-fleshed peaches used to grow before it was a vineyard. Over time, and after several owners, the vines took their place, becoming one of the best known places where the highest quality vineyards grew. This richness undoubtedly comes from its soils, a mixture of different terroirs: from the most calcareous (typical of the Saint-Emlion plateau), to clay-limestone soils. The Dordogne river also plays a key role in the vineyards, because while the grapes grow, it moderates the temperatures, softening both the summer heat and the winter cold. This ensures the grapes ripen properly under a temperate oceanic microclimate, with rainfall throughout the year and dry summers.

However, none of these grapes would make it if it weren’t for the completely manual care of the vineyards, where several plots have been replanted and special care is taken in each vine’s yield. This involves cutting away some of the branches to improve the quality of the remaining ones. Supervision is constant throughout the year, paying special attention to green work and pruning. This makes it very easy for the Château Pavie team to find the perfect date for the harvest. This unmissable event will depend on the vintage, picking the bunches by hand and transporting them to the winery in small boxes to avoid crushing and bruising.

Once in the winery, the best clusters will be selected on a double sorting table to make Château Pavie Arômes de Pavie. Here, throughout the entire process, the same philosophy is maintained as in the vineyard, where special care is taken to maintain quality. This translates into low yields (30 hectolitres per hectare) and knowing how to listen to each vintage (the wine will not always ask for or need the same thing). However, as a general rule, Château Pavie Arômes de Pavie is fermented and kept with the skins for about three weeks in 20 wooden vats at a controlled temperature. After this, Château Pavie Arômes de Pavie is transferred to new oak barrels where it undergoes malolactic fermentation and aging for 18 to 32 months.

Château Pavie Arômes de Pavie bears the signature of Jean-Baptiste Pion, the winery’s winemaker since 1998 and the person to whom we owe this company’s success. He and his team are behind this red, which also involves Michel Rolland as consulting winemaker. A classic where quality is much more important than quantity.