This morning we are delighted to release one of the finest wines from St. Emilion in 2018, the stunning Pavie Macquin. This year it has been awarded 95-97 points from The Wine Advocate, which promises to be their greatest ever, certainly a continuation of their recent stellar form that during the last four years, has seen it as one of the highest scoring wines in St. Emilion. The brilliant Wine Advocate score is surpassed by Jeb Dunnuck who awards it 97-99 points, which again promises to exceed its previous peaks. St. Emilion has produced several masterpieces in 2018, Pavie Macquin is among these, which priced at £632 per case of 12, makes it one of the most undervalued wines in Bordeaux and in the context of this exceptional vintage is utterly unmissable. A Price Over Points score of 40 for a leading St. Emilion wine, with 95-97 points from The Wine Advocate is exceptional. It equates to £52 per bottle, which for any Bordeaux lover marks a stunning acquisition. The 95+ scoring 2010 trades at £800 per case of six, the 96+ scoring 2005 at £1,050.
Pavie Macquin is a Premier Grand Cru Classe B Chateau from St. Emilion. It is one of the three Pavie Estates, Pavie, Pavie Macquin and Pavie-Decesse. The Estate takes its name from Albert Macquin, who is famous for pioneering grafting vines onto rootstock, saving not only the Chateau in St. Emilion, but Bordeaux wine in general. Today the Estate is owned by Benoit and Bruno Corre and Marie-Jacques Charpentier, who have returned the Estate to its former glory and since 1998, a vintage awarded 97 points by Robert Parker, the Estate has seen a renaissance. During this period of improvement, they have boasted Stephane Derenoncourt and Nicolas Thienpont in the winemaking team. There is little doubt of the Estate’s potential, with Pavie directly south and surrounded by some of St. Emilion’s finest Estates, it is an Estate on the rise, taking full advantage of its superb terroir. The Estate has two famous premium plots, the Ausone Hill, where the vines line against Ausone and the Pavie hill, those neighbouring Pavie. With these neighbours and terroir, it is easy to understand how this has become one of the hottest properties and for the time being, brilliant value.
Great vintages abound brilliance in a way that adjourns top Estates with great quality and a status. As such we are pleased to release a wine that should be cherished for future consumption, one ripe for speculation, leaving a lot on the table for collectors and very appealing upside. Malescot St. Exupery is an Estate in rapid ascent, one that deserves very close attention over the coming years. In fact, it is a Third Growth in its own right, located in the centre of the village of Margaux, close to its fellow Third Growth, Chateau Palmer. In 2018 it has been awarded a stunning 94-96+ points from The Wine Advocate and 97-98 from James Suckling, a stupendous score. Indeed at £492 per case of 12, this is another wine ripe for plucking for savvy claret buyers. At £41 a bottle, it is a collector’s piece to buy and store for a decade, whereon it will reward with sensuous splendour and offer near first growth quality at a fraction of the price. The wine is truly brilliant and one of the under-priced gems of the left bank.
The origins of Chateau Malescot St. Exupery can be traced back over 400 years to 1616. In the 1600s there were two owners of the Estate with royal connections. It started with the Escousses, who were notaries for the King. Then Simon Malescot, attorney-general to Louis XIV, took over the Estate near the close of the century. The Estate then changed hands many times, until the name gradually evolved to Malescot St. Exupery, which achieved Third Growth status in the 1855 Classification.
In 1866 the Estate was sold to Boissac, a visionary who built the grand Chateau which sits on the Estate today and who also was the first to use gravity during fermentation. The Estate then passed through both German and English ownership in 20th Century before Jean Luc of the Zuger family took over in 1994, bringing in world famous oenologist Michel Rolland as a consultant. On average the vines are 35 years old and they produce 13,000 cases a year. It is an Estate on the up and up and 2016 reaffirms its status as a rising star!
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