Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve: With Ausone and Cheval Blanc, this is one of the three greatest St-Emilions of the vintage, transcending comfortably the characteristics and limitations of the year. Muscular and svelte, deep and intense, it is an archetypal Pavie for its unique combination of power and refinement. 18/18.5

Michael Schuster: Inky; dense and minerally to smell, oak to the fore, fruit in the background; a rich middleweight wine with a firm, but fine textured, dry tannin; rich, ripe, sweet and subtle fruit, long in the mouth, spicy, complex and with a long scented finish. Fine, in the Perse style, with the oak tannin a bit dry for the fruit at the moment, especially on the finish. Needs time. 2017-25+. 16.5/17