2000 Château Pavie-Macquin

Now heading towards 22 years old, and the stubborn 2000 vintage is in full flow. Not quite as generous on the nose, surprisingly perhaps, as the 2001, but this is a stormingly good wine that begs to be shared. Sweet tobacco and enticingly fragrant blackberry and raspberry fruits, a tangled autumn hedgerow of sweet and mellow juicy fruits. There are fresh acidities here, with an oyster shell finish that roots this wine in its limestone bedrock, along with the flexed muscular power of clay. A wine to sink into. Part of the warm vintages series within this vertical. 80% new oak.

The 2000 Pavie Macquin is a vintage that I had not encountered for many years. The clean nose features red cherry and light balsamic scents, although it lacks complexity for the vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy, slightly rigid tannins, quite a lot of soy and a rather short, ferrous finish. This ought to be better considering the growing season, and it comes across way too exotic.

The 2000 Pavie-Macquin is opulent and intense, but also rather monolithic. I don't expect that cellaring is going to make much of a difference. Dried cherry, leather, cedar, tobacco, menthol and licorice add a measure of nuance. I wanted more given the reputation of the year. In my view, the 2000 is too evolved for its age.