Location and Terroir
Château Pavie-Decesse lies to the south-east of the village of Saint-Émilion in the Bordeaux region in France. The vineyard is entirely on the limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion, at around 85 metres above the level of the Dordogne. The soils consist of clay and limestone over limestone with fossilised starfish; for the appellation, red and brown clays over Astéries limestone are described.
Viticulture
The vines are managed with pruning to six buds, green harvesting and two canopy-management work passes. Harvest is carried out by hand, followed by sorting. The planting consists of 90 per cent Merlot and 10 per cent Cabernet Franc.
History and Classification
In 1885, Ferdinand Bouffard separated the estate from Château Pavie by bringing selected parcels together into an independent vineyard and naming it Pavie-Decesse. The Valette family acquired the estate in 1990; Gérard Perse became owner in 1997. Château Pavie-Decesse is produced under the Saint-Émilion Grand Cru appellation and is classified as a Grand Cru Classé.
Maturation and Style
The wine ferments in three temperature-controlled wooden casks and macerates for around three weeks. The biological malolactic fermentation takes place in barriques. Afterwards, the wine matures for 18 to 24 months in new barrels and is racked every three months. After the final blending, it is bottled without fining and filtration. The estate describes the wine as rich, full-bodied, fleshy and complex, with structured tannins and a ageing potential linked to the limestone plateau.
