Bordeaux Wines

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A super-silky red with notes of stone, limestone, cedar and plum. Full-bodied but so polished. The length and complexity are amazing. Just opening now.James Suckling | 99 JSSaturated deep ruby, much darker and brighter than the other vintages tasted. Sappy, fresh aromas of boysenberry, cassis, minerals, bitter chocolate and espresso, with complicating notes of underbrush and earth. Extremely pure and penetrating, with fruit of steel and a powerful mineral underpinning. Finishes with strong, firm tannins and great persistence. Essence of Ausone, without the funkiness shown by so many past vintages of this wine. Offers exciting potential. Drink 2008 to 2030.Vinous Media | 95+ VMDark ruby color. Aromas of lavender, violet, mint and crushed berries. Full-bodied, with polished, chewy tannins and lots of mint, blackberry and wet earth flavors. Goes on and on. Tight and powerful. Needs a long time to open still.—’88/’98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Best after 2012. 2,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSReaders should not hesitate to check out Ausone’s new second wine, Chapelle d’Ausone. It reveals Ausone’s minerality, finesse, and quality presented in a lower-keyed, more open-knit style.A dense opaque purple color offers up restrained, but pure aromas of liquid minerals, blackberries, black raspberries, and flowers. Medium to full-bodied, with high tannin but a long, super-pure, symmetrical mouth-feel, this dazzling, extremely complex Ausone requires 6-10 years of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2050.Robert Parker | 94 RPNo written review provided. | 94 W&S

The 2001 Ausone has put on even more weight than I anticipated. The “wine of the vintage,” this inky/purple-colored 2001 boasts a provocative, floral perfume of crushed stones, raspberries, blackberries, creme de cassis, licorice, and smoke. What makes it so sensational are the layers of flavor and nuances that unfold as the wine sits in the glass as well as on the palate. This is an extraordinarily intense effort, but remarkably elegant and well-balanced. It ideally needs another decade of cellaring; it should last for 4-5 decades! Alain Vauthier is a perfectionist, which is evidenced by what he has produced over the last half dozen vintages at Ausone. Kudos to readers lucky enough to find a bottle or two ... and live long enough to enjoy them in their prime.Robert Parker | 98 RPYou have to love the beautiful plum, berry and vanilla character in this wine. Full-bodied, with fine tannins and a long finish. Very refined and beautiful. Not the 2000, but classic just the same. Best after 2007. 150 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 95 WSMedium ruby. Tarry black fruits and minerals on the nose. Began extremely tight and austere, with penetrating black fruit and mineral flavors. With aeration, this showed more flesh and complexity, hinting at blackberry, graphite, espresso and sexy oak. For such a vibrant, juicy, minerally wine, the tannins are extremely fine. This may well merit an even higher score 12 to 15 years down the road.Vinous Media | 93+ VM

A big, bold wine with unbelievable power and concentration. Low yields and a dominance of Cabernet Franc have produced an immensely concentrated wine. Still very young, this magnificent wine holds the promise of great aging.Wine Enthusiast | 99 WEThe 2010 Ausone struck me as another brilliant, potentially perfect wine, which should come as no shock to people who have been following Vauthier’s work over the last decade or more. Backward and intense, this wine offers up notes of crushed chalk/rock mineralilty interwoven with blueberry, black raspberry and cassis as well as some graphite and vanillin. It is incredibly rich but at the same time precise, fresh and vivacious. This is a super wine, but it will require enormous patience from its potential suitors. Forget it for a decade and drink it over the following 50+ years.One of the other perfectionist, compulsive producers in St.-Emilion is Alain Vauthier, who is now capably assisted by his daughter.Robert Parker | 98+ RPThe nose is so deep and almost endless with dried strawberries, blueberries, and incense. Citrus too. Some prunes. Full body, with chewy yet polished tannin quality and tension. Beautiful focus and balance with a richness and delicacy at the same time. Something almost Burgundian. It's the purity of fruit. 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot. Try in 2020.James Suckling | 98 JSThe 2010 Ausone has a rich, opulent, modern style bouquet with crème de cassis and blueberry aromas tinged with crushed violet. There is plenty of new oak here. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a ton of blue and black fruit. It does not quite deliver the personality of its peers, although the velvety texture is very alluring. Maybe it will develop into something more interesting with bottle age, possibly going through a close phase? Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.Vinous Media | 94+ VMVery sappy and intense, offering racy red licorice, red currant and violet notes, with nice taut acidity and a long, minerally finish. Combines power and austerity, with excellent drive. For those who like backbone in their wines.Wine Spectator | 94-97 WS

The deep garnet-purple colored 2017 Ausone is a blend of 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot. It sashays out of the glass with gregarious scents of baked red and black plums, wild blueberries and boysenberries plus touches of violets, espresso, licorice and melted chocolate with wafts of iron ore and tilled soil. Medium-bodied, the palate is an exercise in poise, featuring beautifully ripe, silken tannins and bold freshness to support the fragrant multi-layers, finishing very long and very minerally.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPThe 2017 Ausone is incredibly precise and sculpted, but also tightly wound in the early going - not that that will be a problem for readers who own it and will cellar it. Wild flowers, mint, blood orange and crushed rocks are some of the nuances that open up in the glass, but the 2017 is not in any mood to show all of its cards. Vertical, rich and explosive with tons of inner energy, the 2017 is a truly regal wine, but it also needs a number of years to be at its very finest. Here, too, the Franc (55% of the blend) really shines. This is a stellar showing from the Vauthier family.Antonio Galloni | 97 AGThis is totally stunning, demonstrating depth, texture, salinity and flesh. It manages to be both austere and generous at the same time, pushing and pulling. It's a totally different conversation to many others wines this year. There was no frost effect here, although some of their other estates were fully wiped out. Harvested 23-29 September from 7.25ha planted at densities ranging between 6,500-12,600 vines per hectare. 100% new oak. Drinking Window 2027 - 2043.Decanter | 97 DECFrom a vintage compared to 2011 and 2014 by the estate, the 2017 Chateau Ausone is a classic blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot that’s from the pure limestone hillsides just outside the village of Saint-Emilion. This full-bodied, elegant, almost Burgundian beauty offers a terrific seamlessness as well as lots of ripe cassis and black cherry fruits, notes of truffle-laced earth, tobacco, and crushed stone, ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. This is classic Ausone, with its complexity and elegance paired with plenty of richness and depth. It needs 5-7 years of bottle age and will evolve for 2-3 decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDWith its perfumed Cabernet Franc and supple Merlot, this wine is packed with fruit and tannins. It is rich although the fruitiness is most apparent, a juicy wine that hides its structure in the cushioning fruits.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WERich and succulent, with a wide spectrum of black and blue berry aromas. Lovely balance of fine tannins, restrained richness, lively acidity and just a hint of oak. Long finish that has a delicate touch. Drink or hold. Château Quintus vertical tasting. SP.James Suckling | 94 JS