The slopes of Chateau Pavie and Ausone were first planted by the ancient Romans in the fourth century. However, Chateau Pavie did not become famous as a Saint Emilion wine producer until almost two thousand years later.
Chateau Pavie was definitely famous by the mid 19th century. At the time, the Robert Parker of the day was the Bordeaux bible published by Cocks and Feret’s “Bordeaux et ses vins.” In 1850, the first edition was already high on the wines from Pavie as they named it one of the First classed Growths in Saint Emilion.
A portion of Chateau Pavie was sold off in 1885, interestingly, (the same year that the famous, classification of the Medoc took place), to the well known, Bordeaux negociant Ferdinand Bouffard.
It was Bouffard’s desire to increase the size of the vineyards. In time he managed to put together a 50 hectare vineyard with an annual production that ranged from 12,500 to 15,000 cases per year. That made Chateau Pavie one of the largest estates in the Right Bank!
By the late 1800’s, Chateau Pavie and Pavie Decesse were fully separate estates. Close to the same time, the Macquin family was also busy purchasing parcels of vineyards in the same region too. Those purchases led to the creation of Chateau Pavie Macquin.
Pavie Sky 300x224 Chateau Pavie St. Emilion Bordeaux Wine, Complete Guide
Jumping ahead to the next century and the start of the First World War, Ferdinand Bouffard sold Chateau Pavie to Albert Porte who eventually sold the vineyard to the Valette family. The Valette family was were well-known Bordeaux negociants from Paris.
