Chateau Pavie Macquin Premier Grand Cru Classe B, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2012

The 2012 Pavie-Macquin shows how appealing the best wines from this vintage are. Bright, floral and racy, the 2012 is drinking beautifully today. Readers who prefer more aromatic complexity might prefer to cellar the 2012 for another few years, but there is something about the wine's raciness and immediacy that makes it a pure pleasure to taste today.

Another wine made by the superstar guru Nicolas Thienpont, this well-situated property of 37 acres on the high clay/limestone plateau in St.-Emilion has produced a blend of 84 % Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. A masculine, virile style of wine with an inky deep purple color, lots of crème de cassis and crushed rock and high tannin. This is thick and powerful, with a layered mouthfeel, good purity, earthiness and spice. Forget it for 4-5 years and drink if over the following two decades.

(85% merlot, 14% cabernet franc and 1% cabernet sauvignon; 30 h/h production): Deep purple-ruby. Penetrating notes of violet and rose complement intense, almost syrupy aromas of strawberry and red cherry. Then dense and suave in the mouth, with rich flavors of red berries and minerals complicated by vanilla and violet. Finishes very rich and long. This year, the merlot was harvested between October 13 and 18 and the cabernet on October 17 and 18. One of my top 15 wines of the vintage. Pavie-Macquin takes its name from its location in the Pavie sector of Saint-Emilion and from the grandfather Albert Macquin of the Corre-Macquin family. Since 1994, Nicolas Thienpoint has been managing the property with the consulting help of Stephane Derenoncourt.

The 2012 Pavie Macquin has a smudged and bretty nose that obfuscates the terroir expression. It simply lacks freshness. The palate is fleshy on the entry with modest depth, missing some grip with a dirty, slightly baked finish. This is difficult to fathom out, and I put a question mark against my score. Tasted blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting.