Esprit de Pavie is the creation of Gerard Perse, the visionary owner of Chateau Pavie in St Emillion, having produced no less than five 100 point wines at the Pavie estate. He and his team could have sat smugly on their laurels, instead they set out to make a more democratic bottle of Bordeaux for wider enjoyment, Esprit de Pavie is made from young vines from all of Perse’s estate’s, including Pavie, this is definitely a smart case of wine to add to the cellar, given the provenance and price, it’s a Bordeaux to snap up for fun and future.

Château Pavie is a Bordeaux estate in Saint-Émilion known for its Merlot-dominant grand vin. It is one of four châteaux with the Premier Grand Cru Classé A status, the highest classification in Bordeaux’s right bank.

The 37-hectare (91-acre) Pavie estate sits on a limestone plateau on a site known to have been planted with vines since Roman times. The current property boundaries were heavily influenced by the land purchases of Ferdinand Bouffard in the late 19th Century. Bouffard bought a number of vineyards and châteaux, laying the foundations not just for Pavie but several of its neighboring estates, although he continued to manage them as separate entities. In the early 20th Century, Château Pavie was divided into three: châteaux Pavie Macquin and Pavie Decesse were created from land from the original estate. Pavie remains the largest of the three and is one of the largest estates in Saint-Émilion.

Château Pavie was named a Premier Grand Cru Classé B at the 1954 classification of Saint-Émilion. Gérard Perse bought Pavie in 1998 (having previously bought Pavie Decesse) and implemented significant upgrades to the vineyards and winery. Many of the vines were replanted, and Michel Rolland was hired as consultant winemaker. Subsequent vintages have been markedly different and have created some controversy. The new wines are known for their riper, fuller and more extracted expressions with high alcohol content. They have been well received by American critic Robert Parker but not so favorably by others, notable in the poor review the 2003 received from Jancis Robinson. In the 2012 review of the Saint-Émillion classification, Château Pavie was elevated to the highest status of Premier Grand Cru Classé A.

The vineyards are planted roughly 60 percent to Merlot, 20 percent to Cabernet Franc and 10 percent to Cabernet Sauvignon. Along with the eponymous grand vin, Pavie makes a second wine called Arômes de Pavie, renamed from Tour Simard in 2005. This is made from younger vines with an average age of less than 10 years, compared to 43 for the grand vin. The total production of the estate is roughly 8000 cases annually.

Chateau La Naude is located north of Saint-Emilion, just outside the village of Gauriaguet. The property, managed by winemaker Jean-Michel Garcion, consists of 18.5 hectares planted with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet-Franc. Jean-Michel was passionate about viticulture from a very young age, and received his diploma in Viticulture and Oenology at Le Landreau in 1984. He finally settled at La Naude after ten years of working harvests around the world and has been a fixture at this family-owned estate since 1991.

The vineyards of La Naude are situated on highly-coveted limestone and clay soils, which, in an otherwise nutrient-poor environment, provide their Merlot with signature minerality.  The vines on the property range in age from 10-20 years old.

Proprietor Jacques De Schepper of De-Mour comes from a family tradition of wine and spirits, starting with his father who began in the 1930s by producing jenever and other regional liquors in the Belgian town of Ghent.  After expanding their import business in the 1960s, the De Schepper family acquired several Bordeaux estates, eventually taking ownership of five Chateaux across the region with the goal of returning these neglected facilities to their former glory.  Chateau La Naude was Jacques’ prize acquisition in 1996, and he remains involved in its daily management to this day.