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Lots of cool blue fruit and violets with some stones and chocolate orange. Supple, silky and very sleek tannins. Medium to full body. Lengthy and fresh on the finish. 75% cabernet franc and 25% cabernet sauvignon.James Suckling | 94-95 JSThe surprisingly heady, forward 2001 Chapelle d’Ausone provides a wonderful introduction to Ausone. Its dense plum/purple color is accompanied by sweet aromas of blueberries, blackberries, incense, minerals, and Asian spices. Ripe and opulent, it is best drunk over the next 10-12 years.Robert Parker | 90 RP

Crushed raspberries, flowers and fresh mushrooms. Full-bodied, very refined and creamy with intensity but no aggression. The length is so enticing and pretty. You can drink it now, but better in 2022.James Suckling | 95 JSThe richness of this fine wine is balanced by delicious freshness and acidity. It has firm tannins, of course, while also having a lift of black currant fruitiness. The tannic core promises great aging; drink from 2025. Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEThe 2017 Chapelle d’Ausone is just as impressive from bottle as it was from barrel. A wine of real power, depth and substance, the Chappelle impresses for its fruit concentration and structure. Deep red cherry and plum, fruit, dried flowers, mint, blood orange and sage open up in the glass, with layers of bright, saline-infused aromatics from the 40% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend. In 2017, the Chapelle is truly stellar. I loved it.Vinous Media | 93 VMThe second wine here is always terrific as well. The 2017 Chapelle D’Ausone is a blend of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, mostly from the younger vines of the estate. It has a terrific core of darker fruits as well as complex forest floor, cedar, and violet-tinged aromatics. These all carry to a medium to full-bodied, rounded, elegant, even pretty 2017 that has light tannins and the balance to evolve for 15-20 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 93 JDBlended of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2017 Chapelle d’Ausone sports a deep garnet-purple color. It needs a little coaxing to reveal provocative notes of plum preserves, Black Forest cake and blueberry compote plus suggestions of roses, cloves, pencil shavings and cherry pie. Medium-bodied, the palate is wonderfully zippy and elegantly fruited with a tantalizing frame of satiny tannins and a long, fragrant finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThis estate has managed to stay true to their signature, producing a gorgeous, round wine with dancing floral aromatics that accompany the autumnal fruit and wonderful lick of wet stone. The tight tannins emphasise the austere finish, but there’s great persistency. 100% new oak. Harvested 23 September to 2 October, yielding 35hl/ha.Decanter | 90 DEC

The second wine of Château Ausone, always produced in limited quantities, provides a fine echo of the top wine. Bold tannins and fine perfumes give this wine richness and excellent potential. Layers of black fruits are impeccable, right in the balance with the wine’s texture. This will certainly age, drinkable from 2026.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEThe 2018 Chapelle D’Ausone is another second wine that can easily compete with most estates’ top wines. Coming from a blend of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon that will spend 20 months in oak, it tastes like a mini Château Ausone with its beautiful limestone minerality and sweet black fruits, spice, and graphite aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, concentrated, with building structure, it’s a serious second wine that’s going to benefit from 3-5 years of bottle age and keep for two decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 93-95+ JDA red with black berry, blue berry, iodine, muscle shell and hot stone character on both the nose and palate. It’s full-bodied and very tight with a compact palate of beautiful fruit with a minerally undertone. Very long and polished. Fine yet structure. Try after 2025.James Suckling | 95 JSThe 2018 Chapelle d’Ausone is made of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple in color, as impenetrable as this wine’s big-brother grand vin wine is, this is the precocious, show-off younger sibling. It comes skipping out of the glass with bright, cheery scents of redcurrant jelly, black raspberries, stewed plums and Black Forest cake, giving way to suggestions of rose oil, dusty soil and garrigue. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is jam-packed with juicy black and red berry layers, framed by beautifully ripe, finely grained tannins and tons of freshness, finishing long and perfumed. Delicious right now, if money’s no object, buy this and the grand vin. The 2018 Ausone is going to take a good few years to come around, but this second wine offers a true enough taste of that epic feast of a wine to come.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94+ RPChapelle d’Ausone might very well be the best second wine in Bordeaux in 2018, and it is certainly a lot more compelling than many top cuvées. Inky, deep and voluptuous, the Chapelle shows all of the natural suppleness of Merlot to great effect. Soft curves and silky tannins round things out in style. It is a drop-dead gorgeous beauty from the Vauthier family. Simply magnificent.Antonio Galloni | 94 AGYou definitely get the brushed damson fruits and slight grilled notes of oak, but it is oh-so carefully handled, and just gives the most gorgeous blend; 80% young vines up to 10 years old (planted at 12,000 vines per hectare), plus some lots that didn’t make it into the first wine. That makes this an extremely successful Chapelle with just so much personality and depth. Such incredible precision here to the freshly crushed mint leaves. This is an expensive second wine, but it absolutely delivers the ’wow’ factor. 20 months in barrel, 100% new oak, as per Ausone, but pure limestone so it just sucks it up. Normally 20,000 bottles of Ausone and 5-6,000 bottles of Chapelle. A high Silver. And a yield now up to around 37-40hl/ha. Drinking Window: 2025 - 2040Decanter | 93 DEC

Such pure and beautiful aromas of blackberries and black cherries with violets and red roses. So aromatic and enticing. Full-bodied with extremely integrated tannins that are velvety and curated. Fresh and sweet fruit at the end with an orange-peel undertone. Crushed stone and sandalwood, too. This is a very beautiful second wine of Ausone. 60% cabernet franc and 40% merlot. Drink after 2025.James Suckling | 96 JSThe second wine of Ausone comes from specific parcels of the vineyard. With 60% of Cabernet Franc in the blend with Merlot, the wine is structured and firm, perfumed and rich. It will age well, drink from 2026.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEA blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot, the 2019 Chapelle d’Ausone is deep garnet-purple in color. Lifted notes of black raspberries, redcurrant jelly, and blackberry preserves waft from the glass, followed by hints of unsmoked cigars, baking spices, and violets. The medium-bodied palate is plush and juicy, with loads of fragrant layers and a lively, perfumed finish.The Wine Independent | 94 TWIA blend of wine from young vines with a few barriques of declassified Ausone (though anything that doesn’t make the grade is sold off in bulk), the 2019 Chapelle d’Ausone exhibits attractive aromas of cherries, sweet berry fruit, violets, spices, rose petals and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and seamless, it’s elegant and refined, with a deep core of fruit and impeccable balance.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPThe 2019 Chapelle d’Ausone has a taut nose, a mixture of red and black fruit, quite marine influenced with a tang of Japanese nori. The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannins, fine depth though not the most powerful Saint-Émilion, compensating with admirable elegance on the finish. Very fine. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.Vinous Media | 92 VM