With production levels under 2,000 cases, smaller than Pétrus, Château Ausone is one of the most in-demand châteaux in Bordeaux and sits alongside the greatest names of the Right Bank as a 1er Grand Cru Classé (A) of Saint Émilion.
The tiny 7ha vineyard of Château Ausone is 65% Cabernet Franc and 35% Merlot is located at the southern edge of Saint Émilion. Ausone has some of the oldest vines in Saint-Émilion with some Cabernet Franc vines that are more than 100 years of age (planted 1906).
I love the tobacco, berry, cigar box, toasty oak, ripe fruit and fresh mushroom flavors in this full-bodied red, which has ultralayered tannins and vanilla, new oak and berry character. Powerful and superconcentrated, with great length. This is a muscular, full-throttle wine, racing very, very fast. Best after 2019. 1,330 cases made. -JS
Drinking Window: 2020 - 2060
Review Date: 31st March 2008
The 2005 Ausone is a perfect wine of the vintage. It displays crushed rock, spring flowers, blueberry and blackberry fruit, a full-bodied mouthfeel, stunning purity and richness, and perfect harmony among all of its component parts (acidity, tannin, wood, alcohol and extract). Still youthful, but oh, so promising, this wine should be set aside for another decade and drunk over the following 50-75 years.
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2100
Reviewer Name: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Review Date: 29th June 2015
The 2005 Ausone is magnificent. A wine of soaring intensity and class, the 2005 dazzles from the very first taste. The aromatics alone are captivating, with notes of cinnamon, mint, crushed rocks, blood orange, mocha and incense. Graceful and stately in bearing, the 2005 boasts tremendous purity and breathtaking balance. Readers will find a stunning Saint-Émilion that is just at the beginning of what promises to be a very long drinking window that will be measured in decades. It is a towering achievement from the Vauthier family.
Drinking Window: 2022 - 2050
Reviewer Name: Antonio Galloni
Review Date: 1st April 2021
97-99 Barrel sample. A superb wine that brings together all the qualities of this vintage. It has great fruit, layers of acidity, dark tannins and a velvety texture, without losing the sense of place that sets great Bordeaux apart.
Drinking Window: 2019 - 2048
Review Date: 20th June 2006
- Details
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- Year 2005
- Colour Red
- Country France
- Region Bordeaux
- Sub Region Saint-Emilion Grand Cru
- Designation
- Classification
- Pack Size 6x75cl
- ABV 14.00°
- Drinking Window 2025 - 2100
- Drinking Recommendation Not Ready
- LWIN 100620520050600750
- Reviews (4)
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100 Wine Spectator
I love the tobacco, berry, cigar box, toasty oak, ripe fruit and fresh mushroom flavors in this full-bodied red, which has ultralayered tannins and vanilla, new oak and berry character. Powerful and superconcentrated, with great length. This is a muscular, full-throttle wine, racing very, very fast. Best after 2019. 1,330 cases made. -JS
Drinking Window: 2020 - 2060
Review Date: 31st March 2008
100 Wine AdvocateThe 2005 Ausone is a perfect wine of the vintage. It displays crushed rock, spring flowers, blueberry and blackberry fruit, a full-bodied mouthfeel, stunning purity and richness, and perfect harmony among all of its component parts (acidity, tannin, wood, alcohol and extract). Still youthful, but oh, so promising, this wine should be set aside for another decade and drunk over the following 50-75 years.
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2100
Reviewer Name: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Review Date: 29th June 2015
100 VinousThe 2005 Ausone is magnificent. A wine of soaring intensity and class, the 2005 dazzles from the very first taste. The aromatics alone are captivating, with notes of cinnamon, mint, crushed rocks, blood orange, mocha and incense. Graceful and stately in bearing, the 2005 boasts tremendous purity and breathtaking balance. Readers will find a stunning Saint-Émilion that is just at the beginning of what promises to be a very long drinking window that will be measured in decades. It is a towering achievement from the Vauthier family.
Drinking Window: 2022 - 2050
Reviewer Name: Antonio Galloni
Review Date: 1st April 2021
98 Wine Enthusiast97-99 Barrel sample. A superb wine that brings together all the qualities of this vintage. It has great fruit, layers of acidity, dark tannins and a velvety texture, without losing the sense of place that sets great Bordeaux apart.
Drinking Window: 2019 - 2048
Review Date: 20th June 2006
- Producer
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About Château Ausone
Château Ausone vies with Cheval-Blanc to be Saint-Émilion’s most prestigious estate. Named after the Roman poet Ausonius who once resided in this area, Ausone is one of four Premier Grand Cru Classé (A) wines in the classification of Saint-Émilion (along with Angélus, Cheval Blanc and Pavie).
Quite possibly the oldest winemaking estate in the entire region, the vines of Château Ausone occupy the same site as a villa owned by the Roman poet and proconsul Ausonius nearly 2000 years ago. The connection to the current name is clear to see, but the Vauthier family have owned these hallowed vineyards for several centuries into the 12th generation with Pauline.
Viniculture
Ausone stands tall over the town of St-Émilion itself, with a mere seven hectares of entirely classified vines – making it the single smallest First Growth in any appellation, on any Bank. Clinging precariously to steep, ancient slopes comprised of clay and limestone with particularly shallow soil cover, it has been said that Ausone is one of few properties in the region where one can simply tell from the sight of its terroir that the wine is exceptional. There are Cabernet Franc vines that are more than 100 years of age (planted 1906).
Striking chunks of limestone are immediately obvious, and it comes as no surprise to learn that such is the extent of said geological influence that there are deep quarries running beneath the vines. Actively worked between the 13th and 19th centuries, the dormant mines are now used by the Vauthiers to store oak barrels at a temperature of 12 degrees and a steady year-round humidity of 97% – in fact so effective are these limestone cellars that a dehumidifier had to be installed!
Aside from producing some of the greatest, rarest wine on Earth, Ausone’s terroir is exceptional for its consistency. Vintage after vintage, both the Grand Vin and the second wine excel whilst others stumble – the latter representing a minuscule 10% of the total production of an already dramatically small amount.
- Vintage Comparison
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Ausone - Offers on Cru
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Show Investment Rating GuideWine Rating is intended to show the quality of the wine from an investment perspective. It takes into account the prices achieved by the producer, the quality of the vintage and the critics' scores for this wine. AAA is the best rating, and B the most speculative.
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