Château Pavie

The estate

For most of the 19th century Pavie was not 1 estate but several. Charles Cocks, in Bordeaux, ses environs et ses vins of 1850, lists 4 Pavies under 4 proprietors in the same section: Tallemon at 20 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), Pigasse at 15 with Larcis, Lafleur at 10 and Chapus at 10. In 1868 Cocks and Édouard Féret, in the guide that became the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, still printed 2 of them, Pigasse at 25 to 30 tonneaux and the Chapus brothers. The single Château Pavie was the work of Ferdinand Bouffard, a Bordeaux négociant who inherited the Domaine de la Sable in 1873 and spent 20 years buying the vineyards around it, until he had nearly 50 hectares. Albert Porte consolidated the holding in 1919 and sold off Pavie-Pigasse, which became Pavie-Decesse. In 1943 Pavie went to Alexandre Valette, a négociant who already owned Troplong Mondot, and his grandson Jean-Paul took charge in 1957.

Gérard and Chantal Perse arrived in 1993 and bought Pavie in 1998. He found more than 15,000 vines missing or dead and a cellar unfit for its work, and he rebuilt within months. The rank followed the work. Pavie had been a Premier Grand Cru Classé B since the first Saint-Émilion classification, of 1955; it was promoted to A in 2012, and the list of 2022 confirmed it at that level, where only Figeac stands beside it. That same year the vineyards of Pavie-Decesse and Bellevue-Mondotte, which Perse had bought in 1997 and 2001, went into the blend of Château Pavie. Gérard Perse died on July 19, 2025, aged 75; Chantal, their daughter Angélique, Henrique, their daughter’s husband, and their grandchildren carry the vineyards on.

The vines cover 42 hectares in a single block, an amphitheater facing south across the limestone plateau, the slope beneath it and the foot of the slope, falling from 110 meters above the Dordogne to 35. They are planted at 7,000 vines a hectare, 50% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. Laurent Lusseau is technical director and Jean-Baptiste Pion cellar master, and David Eymas has run the vineyard since February 2023.

I tasted the 2008, a cooler and less celebrated vintage, in April 2024, with braised short ribs: deep garnet, blackberries, coffee, spice and chocolate, full and concentrated, with a savory side of earth and minerals, elegant tannins, lively acidity and a very long finish, and years still ahead of it. Tasted again at the château, as I wrote in October 2025, it showed the richness of the house held in line by the freshness of the year.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, from the limestone plateau to the foot of the slope

Classification

Premier Grand Cru Classé A, 2012 and 2022; Premier Grand Cru Classé B from 1955

Owners

The Perse family, since 1998; Gérard Perse died on July 19, 2025

Direction

Laurent Lusseau, technical director; Jean-Baptiste Pion, cellar master; David Eymas, vineyard, since February 2023

Vineyard

42 hectares in 1 block, from 110 to 35 meters; Pavie-Decesse and Bellevue-Mondotte in the blend since 2022; 7,000 vines a hectare

Ground

Limestone plateau, the slope beneath it and the foot of the slope

Grapes

Merlot 50%, Cabernet Franc 30%, Cabernet Sauvignon 20%

Wines

Château Pavie

In history

4 separate Pavies under 4 proprietors in 1850; assembled by Ferdinand Bouffard from 1873

Took in

Château Bellevue-Mondotte; Château Pavie-Decesse

Sources: Château Pavie, the domain · Château Pavie, our expertise · Vignobles Perse, Château Pavie, the history · Conseil des Vins de Saint-Émilion, the classification of 2022 · Conseil des Vins de Saint-Émilion, Château Pavie · Decanter, a Saint-Émilion story: Château Pavie · Decanter, Gérard Perse dies aged 75 · Guto Assumpção on Instagram, Château Pavie 2008, April 19, 2024 · Guto Assumpção on Instagram, Château Pavie 2008, October 24, 2025