Chateau Pavie 2015

Peaches, phylloxera and a long decline

Vines have grown on the Pavie slopes since Roman times, according to Wikipedia, and the estate takes its name from the peach orchards that once stood there. The modern property was assembled in the late 19th century by Ferdinand Bouffard, who bought plots from several families; nine hectares bought from the Pigasse family kept a separate identity as Chateau Pavie-Decesse.

Bouffard struggled with phylloxera and sold at the end of World War I to Albert Porte, who sold in 1943 to Alexandre Valette. Pavie was named a Premier Grand Cru Classe in the first Saint-Emilion classification in the 1950s, but Wine Spectator says it suffered in the 1980s as investment shrank, and The Wine Independent describes the wines of the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s as mostly average.

The site itself was never the problem. The Wine Independent describes a prime section perched above a sheer wall of compact limestone, with the rest of the vineyard falling away in slopes of limestone, clay, gravel and sand. Potential buyers visited in the mid-1990s but walked away from the cost of repairs.

From a market stall to Saint-Emilion

Gerard Perse was born in 1949 in Menilmontant, a working-class Paris neighborhood, the third of 11 children. He left school as a teenager, painted houses with his father, then raced as a jockey and a cyclist. He met his wife, Chantal, when she handed him the winner's bouquet after a race. At 21 he and Chantal started selling fruit and vegetables at Paris markets; five years later they bought a small grocery and built it into a supermarket chain with more than 1,000 employees.

Buying wine for his stores turned into a passion. In 1993 the Perses bought Chateau Monbousquet, which Gerard called his laboratory: working with the consultant Michel Rolland, he cut yields from 90 to 45 hectoliters per hectare. In 1997 he bought Pavie-Decesse from Jean-Paul Valette, and in March 1998 he bought Pavie itself from the same family, for $30.8 million according to Wine Spectator, or about $31 million according to Wikipedia and The Wine Independent.

What he found needed work. More than 30,000 vines were dead or missing, about five hectares' worth by Perse's count; Wine Spectator puts the number at 32,000. He replaced concrete vats with temperature-controlled wooden ones, built a new cellar in time for the 1999 vintage and later an even newer winery in 2012, and replanted, cutting Merlot from 70% of the vineyard toward 50% in favor of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. He said the change only began to show in the wines from 2012.

The 2003 war of words

Pavie became a symbol in the argument over ripe, concentrated Bordeaux. Jancis Robinson scored the 2003 just 12 out of 20, calling it overripe and 'Porty sweet,' while Robert Parker strongly disagreed and accused her of lying in her notes, a clash the press called a war of words. Wikipedia notes that the two critics later had a cordial relationship.

The family saw an upside. Perse's son-in-law, Henrique da Costa, told The Wine Independent that because of the controversy the 2003 sold out in two hours. Tasted again two decades later, that writer found the 2003 surprisingly classic. Wine Spectator notes that Perse's style moderated over the years toward purity of fruit and the character of the soils.

2015: an idyllic year on the plateau

The estate describes 2015 as idyllic. A glorious spring brought fast, even flowering and fruit set; a hot, dry July slowed the vines, but water stored in the soils over winter let ripening continue slowly. Fine September days, cool nights and a few welcome showers rounded it off. The grapes were picked and sorted by hand, fermented in temperature-controlled wooden vats, with malolactic fermentation in barrel, and aged 24 months in 80% new oak.

The blend shows the replanting. The estate's sheet gives 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, figures the Wine Advocate and Decanter repeat; Decanter noted that the vintage followed recent ones with more Cabernet. A winemaker note reproduced by one U.S. retailer gives a very different blend of 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon; the estate's own figures are used here. A Wine Spectator review records 5,833 cases made.

Perfect scores and the price of perfection

Two critics gave the 2015 a perfect score. Jeb Dunnuck called it 'pure perfection in a glass,' compared it with the 2009 and suggested it could keep for 50 years. James Suckling wrote that it redefines Pavie. Wine Spectator rated it 98 after a 95-98 barrel score and called it a contender for wine of the vintage on the Right Bank; the Wine Advocate also gave 98, Wine Enthusiast 96 and Decanter 95 from barrel.

Pavie released its futures in mid-June 2016 at $340 a bottle at U.S. retail, 38% more than the 2014, according to Wine Spectator, which noted the 2010 was then selling for around $390 and suggested collectors might wait. In October 2026 a U.S. retailer was asking $445 for a single 750 ml bottle.

Gerard Perse died of cancer on July 19, 2025, at 75. Following the 2022 reclassification of Saint-Emilion, the rest of Pavie-Decesse and two hectares of Bellevue Mondotte were folded into Pavie, which now covers around 40 hectares. The family also built a hospitality business around the estate, including the Hotel de Pavie and its restaurant, La Table de Pavie, which earned two Michelin stars.

The numbers

Vineyard

37 ha in 2015 (estate); around 40 ha today

Production

5,833 cases, per a Wine Spectator review

2015 blend

60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon (one retailer's winemaker note says 85/14/1)

Jeb Dunnuck

100

James Suckling

100

Wine Advocate

98

Wine Spectator

98 (95-98 from barrel)

Wine Enthusiast

96, Cellar Selection

Decanter

95 (barrel sample)

Timeline

1. 1943

   Alexandre Valette buys Chateau Pavie.

2. 1993

   Gerard and Chantal Perse buy Chateau Monbousquet.

3. 1997

   Perse buys Chateau Pavie-Decesse from the Valette family.

4. Mar 1998

   Perse buys Chateau Pavie from the Valettes.

5. 1999

   A new cellar with small wooden vats is ready for the vintage.

6. 2002

   Parts of Pavie-Decesse and the La Clusiere plot are reclassified into Pavie.

7. 2003

   The 2003 vintage sets off a public clash between Jancis Robinson and Robert Parker.

8. 2012

   Pavie is promoted to Premier Grand Cru Classe A and gets a new winery.

9. Oct 2015

   The 2015 harvest, listed by the estate as 06/10 to 14/10.

10. Jun 2016

    The 2015 is released as futures at $340 a bottle at U.S. retail.

11. 2022

    After Saint-Emilion's reclassification, the rest of Pavie-Decesse joins Pavie.

12. Jul 19, 2025

    Gerard Perse dies at 75.

13. Oct 2026

    A U.S. retailer asks $445 for a single bottle.

The world in 2015

• Jan 7, 2015

  Gunmen attack the Paris offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, killing 12.

• Apr 25, 2015

  A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Nepal.

• Jul 14, 2015

  NASA's New Horizons flies past Pluto, the first spacecraft to visit it.

• Jul 20, 2015

  Cuba and the United States restore full diplomatic relations.

• Sep 18, 2015

  Volkswagen is accused of rigging diesel emissions tests.

• Dec 12, 2015

  A global climate pact is agreed at the COP 21 summit in Paris.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Chateau Pavie 2015 is number 71 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (58 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Pavie is named for the peach orchards that once grew on its slopes.
• Gerard Perse met his wife when she handed him the winner's bouquet at a bicycle race.
• When Perse bought Pavie, more than 30,000 vines were dead or missing.
• Perse learned to cut yields from his father-in-law, a fruit grower who got better pears by dropping half his crop.
• The 2003 Pavie sold out in two hours, helped by a public fight between two famous critics.
• The vineyard's Merlot share was cut from about 70% to 50% after 1998, and the extra Cabernet shows in the 2015.