Château Ausone, 1er Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion, 2017
Alain Vauthier's flagship estate arguably possesses the greatest terroir in Bordeaux. The steep limestone slopes that lead up to the Chateau are planted with 50 year old vines that regularly produce quite exceptional, ethereal, complex, even intellectual wines. Produced from 45% Merlot and 55% Cabernet Franc, there will be some 23,000 bottles of grand vin 2017. If there were one or two dissenters over the Chapelle, the Ausone got a unanimous thumbs up. This grows in stature, constantly giving and developing new aromas and nuances. Not as wild or as exotic as usual, there are hints of garrigue and crème de mûre, but the fruit profile is more pure and red. Notes of griotte, Morello cherry, raspberry, tayberry and Asian spice emanate from the glass. There is real composure and class here, effortless power and a multidimensional palate that keeps evolving and revealing new flavours. Everything is framed by exceptional tannins laced with haunting fruits, salinity and mouth-watering acidity. It gently ripples with power and authority. Exceptional.
critic reviews
Smooth texture, turmeric and clove exoticism, fleshy cassis and raspberry fruit studded with white pepper. A lovely sense of lyricism, this has an ethereal, moreish quality that makes it stand out in the vintage. These are the kind of years where Ausone proves just how far it can stand out from its siblings in the appellation, but this is starting to close down - I have had more expressive bottles of this vintage, and I recommend leaving it for a good three or four years from now. 80% new oak, harvested 23-29 September.
The 2017 Ausone was bottled in June 2019. It is blessed with one of the most cerebral bouquets that you will find in this vintage. Nuanced scents of violet and wild heather percolate through the blueberry and cassis fruit. Like the aromatics, the palate is almost pixelated in terms of detail. Cashmere tannins, perfectly integrated new oak and layers of pure fruit. The limestone terroir still shines through this Ausone with intense _mineralité _ towards the seductive finish that lingers in the mouth. Alain and Pauline Vauthier have crafted one of the wines of the vintage.