Château Pavie Macquin

Pavie Macquin farms fifteen hectares of the limestone plateau directly above the Pavie slope, some of the highest and coolest vineyard land in Saint-Émilion. The name honors Albert Macquin, the agronomist who saved the region after phylloxera by championing grafted vines; his descendants own the estate still. Under manager Nicolas Thienpont the property rose from solid to serious — promotion to Premier Grand Cru Classé came in 2006 — with farming that flirts with biodynamics and a Merlot-and-Cabernet-Franc blend picked for freshness off the cool plateau. The wine carries the signature of its rock: dense dark fruit wound around chalky, saline tannin, slower-aging and more structured than its neighbors on the warmer slopes below.