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
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
Deep ruby-red. Penetrating aromas of cassis and minerals. The nose does not prepare one for this huge, improbably sweet, palate-saturating wine, whose pungent minerality and epic intensity makes it solid as a rock. The three-dimensional texture here is uncanny, and the wine's explosive finishing flavors of dark berries, bitter chocolate and minerals persist for minutes. This must be one of the three or four greatest young Bordeaux I've ever tasted. The numbers here: 14.28% alcohol, 3.55 pH and an IPT between 80 and 85. This will go on for several decades, and I would not be at all surprised if it shut down in bottle for a very long time.
Drinking Window: 2019 - 2048
Review Date: 1st May 2008
- 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°
- 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
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
98(+?) Stephen Tanzer - VinousDeep ruby-red. Penetrating aromas of cassis and minerals. The nose does not prepare one for this huge, improbably sweet, palate-saturating wine, whose pungent minerality and epic intensity makes it solid as a rock. The three-dimensional texture here is uncanny, and the wine's explosive finishing flavors of dark berries, bitter chocolate and minerals persist for minutes. This must be one of the three or four greatest young Bordeaux I've ever tasted. The numbers here: 14.28% alcohol, 3.55 pH and an IPT between 80 and 85. This will go on for several decades, and I would not be at all surprised if it shut down in bottle for a very long time.
Drinking Window: 2019 - 2048
Review Date: 1st May 2008
- Producer
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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). Only three families have ever owned Ausone, and Alain Vauthier (who manages Ausone with his daughter Pauline today) are direct descendants of the c17th owners. The tiny 7ha vineyard of Ausone is 65% Cabernet Franc and 35% Merlot and is located at the southern edge of Saint-Émilion atop a steep south-facing slope. The steep, hillside terroir is clay with limestone and limestone over Asteria limestone in the soil. This is what gives Ausone its intense mineral character. Ausone has some of the oldest vines in Saint-Émilion. There are Cabernet Franc vines that are more than 100 years of age (planted 1906).
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Ausone
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