The property had been owned for generations by a partnership of the Dubois-Challon family and the Vauthier family. In the mid 1990s, the Vauthier family gained sole ownership of Chateau Ausone. Alain Vauthier controls all aspects of the winemaking. He began using Michel Rolland as the consulting wine-maker beginning with the 1995 vintage.
The wines of Chateau Ausone are very powerful for a Saint Emilion. They generally require cellaring for at least 10 years to reach maturity and will often improve until 20 years from the year of the harvest. In their youth, these wines can be very tannic. As they age, the flavors of currant, raspberry and black cherry begin to come forward along with hints of spice. Some of the library wines that are nearly a century old still possess charm and a surprising youthfulness.
Facts & Figures
Area under vine
7.3 hectares
Production
24,000 bottles
Soil
The soil and sub-soil of Chateau Ausone's vineyards are limestone.
Grape varieties
50% Merlot
50% Cabernet Franc
Ageing
18-24 months in 100% new French oak
Average age of the vines
50 years
Second wine
Chapelle d'Ausone
Wines available
All wines sold by BDXV come direct from Bordeaux and have been stored at the Chateaux or in professional storage facilities since the time of bottling. BDXV’s wines have never ever been in the hands of private collectors. This gives you the customer the highest level of quality guarantee that the wines you buy have been stored in optimal conditions since the time they were bottled.
Chateau Ausone 2005, EUR POA*
Score: 100 points. Anticipated maturity: 2030-2080.
Robert Parker: 100 points
April 2008: A tiny production of just over 1,300 cases will make the 2005 Ausone impossible to find, but proprietor Alain Vauthier continues to exhibit the Midas touch with his perfectionist efforts at this estate. This brilliant, blue/black-hued offering reveals an extraordinarily youthful, but promising nose of incense, blueberries, blackberries, currants, licorice, and crushed rocks. This intense 2005 boasts powerful, super-layered, multidimensional flavors with tremendous extraction, yet they come across as incredibly sublime, even delicate for such a stunningly concentrated, full-bodied effort. A masterpiece of concentration and balance, it will no doubt be drinking well a century from now.
April 2007: La Chapelle d’Ausone only hints at what purchasers will find in the 2005 Ausone, a 50- to 100-year wine whose production consists of a mere 15,000 bottles. Black as a moonless night with a soaring nose of spring flowers, creme de cassis, melted licorice, truffles, and blueberries, it is incredibly intense with extremely high extract, tannin, and alcohol, yet is unbelievably delicate and light on its feet for such a massive wine. This is a brilliant winemaking achievement from an extraordinarily hallowed terroir on the southern hillside slopes of St.-Emilion. The 2005 will not be ready to drink for 15-20 years, but in a hundred years, wine lovers will still be singing its praises. An amazing accomplishment! Alain Vauthier has accomplished such extraordinary things at Ausone over the last few vintages, it is difficult to imagine the 2005s might be the pinnacle of his achievement. However, Vauthier never rests on the status quo ... so who knows?
April 2006: I’m not going out on a limb saying the 2005 Ausone is better than the 2003, 2000, etc., but it is certainly at the same level. It is a wine of great intensity with extraordinary extract as well as a seamless integration of huge levels of tannin and alcohol. Amazingly deep and multilayered, but so ethereal it must be tasted to be believed, it is a rich, full-throttle offering that should outlive us all. It should not be consumed before 2020, but I suspect 95% of it will be long gone by then. Kudos to Alain Vauthier for pushing the envelope as far as anyone in Bordeaux is doing today.
Jancis Robinson: 18.5 points
Exceptionally deep, blackish, leathery nose – brilliant intensity. Smooth ripe mulberries and tar as well. All very well melded. Very rich and round and concentrated. Extremely intense. Lovely satin texture – very stereotype ‘masculine’ and almost brutal on the palate. Extraordinary intensity but this will have to be kept a LONG time. Beef extract yet freshness. Great density and yet finesse too. Very dry. Definitely meaty.
Chateau Ausone 2003, EUR POA*
Score: 100 points. Anticipated maturity: 2021-2105.
Robert Parker: 100 points
The 2003 Ausone is off the charts in terms of richness. While I gave a 3-digit score to the 2000, I think this profoundly concentrated wine may be even more sublime and exotic. Its inky/blue/purple color is followed by an extraordinary perfume of flowers, crushed rocks, sweet raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and God knows what else. The impression is one of extraordinary richness and purity, and a multilayered texture yet a surreal lightness as well as laser-like precision. This exquisite offering must be tasted to be believed. Incredibly young, it will undoubtedly close down over the next few years, re-emerging after 15-20 years. It should last for 70-100 years. It is a wine for anthology!
No one in Bordeaux has made greater progress in taming the extraordinary potential of this noble terroir than Alain Vauthier, an obsessed perfectionist if there ever was one. He has instituted a Draconian selection at this tiny estate, both in the vineyard and the cellar, and the second wine, Chapelle d’Ausone, has also become one of the region’s finest wines. Prospective purchasers should be aware that Ausone requires 10-20 years of cellaring before it approaches maturity.
Jancis Robinson: 18.5/20 points
So deep a purple it is almost black - in fact the colour lines the glass as young vintage port does. Very very rich, broad, spicy nose.
Some exotic notes of fruit that it almost burnt but there is a remarkable freshness here too. Meaty depth. ON the palate it is somehow absolutely not sweet but very intense, youthful and taut - all reined in and the opposite of the regulation right bank flab in this vintage. Dry finish with fine grained tannins. Classic - very serious wine. Not especially low yields apparently for Ausone: 29 hl/ha. 14 deg alcohol. One of the standouts of the vintage - certainly on this side of the Gironde.
Chateau Ausone 2000, EUR POA*
Score: 100 points. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2075.
Robert Parker: 100 points
Proprietor Alain Vauthier has produced a prodigious wine that captures the essence of Ausone's terroir. A saturated black/purple color is followed by sensational aromas of ink, cherries, blackberries, blueberries, and that wet stones/liquid minerality characteristic. The wine has phenomenal presence on the palate as well as astonishing richness and purity. Despite its extract, power, and richness, it is remarkably light, with a surreal delicacy. It is a tour de force in winemaking and a compelling expression of this magical terroir. It should prove to be legendary, but sadly, anyone over the age of 50 will probably not live to see it come close to maturity.
Jancis Robinson: 19/20 points
Bright, shiny crimson. Big, full, sweet, New World ripeness. Very, very sweet and plump. Lively. Lots of tannins and acidity. Very, very young. Dies suddenly at the end. Good nose, but disappointing on the palate. Holds together at the finish. Well made, but not very Bordeaux!
