Château Ausone Saint-Emilion 2020 - 1er Grand Cru Classé A

Bettane & Desseauve

About the domain :

The Château Ausone vines are located on a limestone knoll, with a small part on a plateau with a shallow layer of soil, and the majority on the adjacent, south-facing slope with much deeper soil. This duality is an undeniable asset that the current owner, Alain Vauthier, has succeeded in magnifying. For the past twenty years, Ausone?s harmonious constitution and refined texture have justified its long-standing reputation as the best wine in the appellation, and sometimes in the whole of Bordeaux. Its longevity in bottle is extraordinary.

Decanter

About the wine:

This is a powerful wine, whose depth and layers make most of its competitors pale. You have to sit back, take your time and let the flavors unfold. The smoky blueberries and raspberries are so dense that they start out knitted, then, as the oxygen opens them up, the body of the wine expands and becomes fleshier and creamier, adding notes of chocolate and mocha. Limestone scraping is present in profusion throughout the finish, and this is a smartly constructed wine. As always, Ausone is a masterpiece in dismantling and reassembling a terroir. A great wine. First year of official conversion to organic farming. 2028-2048

Guide Hachette des vins

About the domain :

Named after the Latin poet who lived in Saint-Émilion in the 4th century, Ausone was founded in the 14th century on a vineyard dating back to Roman times. Since the Middle Ages, only three families have succeeded one another, until Alain Vauthier, the current owner and distant heir of Pierre Chatonnet, who settled here in 1690. This mythical cru has remained at the top (classified A as early as 1959) thanks to this family continuity. Thanks also to its unique terroir: 7 ha (including a high proportion of Cabernet Franc) on the edge of the clay-limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion, surrounded by a belt of rocks that shelters it from the wind. In its two new underground cellars, a wine with astonishing ageing potential is born, made since 2007 by Pauline Vauthier (Alain's daughter) with the help of Philippe Baillarguet, cellar master.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the domain :

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the domain :

From just 7 hectares ideally situated at mid-slope, with a rare collection of Cabernet Franc from massal selection (which accounts for at least half of the final blend), Ausone produces a wine that is both deep and chiselled, innervated by great freshness and endowed with extraordinary velvety smoothness. It only reveals its full potential after ten to fifteen years' cellaring, and then, in great vintages, shows itself capable of evolving over several decades. Under the wise and visionary guidance of owner Alain Vauthier, all vintages since 1998 have been particularly successful, with a special mention for the legendary 2005, which reaches a level of absolute perfection. Unfortunately, the château's wines are virtually impossible to find, and fetch stratospheric prices. Since 2005, with the arrival of Pauline Vauthier as winemaker, Ausone's style, like that of the other Saint-Emilion estates belonging to the Vauthier family, has slowly evolved towards greater crispness and a focus on fruit brightness (thanks in particular to a reduction in the percentage of new barrels used for ageing, from 100% to 85).

Vinous A. Galloni

About the wine:

Château Ausone 2020 is exceptional. Usually more showy, it's packed with lively acids, deep fruit and a very solid structure. Dark red fruits, blood orange, pomegranate, rose petal, mocha and dried herbs come through the glass. Deep and layered, with magnificent finesse, Ausone is in top form in 2020. What a wine! Readers lucky enough to own it are in for an exciting experience over the next few decades.

Le Figaro vins

About the wine:

A nose that transports you to a room covered in marble and tapestries, with the charcoal notes of our childhood fireplaces. On the palate, an embrace of ripe fruit wrapped in ethereal tannins, as silky as fur. Undoubtedly the quintessential example of the gentle power so characteristic of this vintage. 2032-2062

Jean-Marc Quarin

About the wine:

Dark, intense, beautiful purple color. Very aromatic nose, fine, pure fruit, complex, noble and deep. Slight hint of vanilla on a background of very ripe raspberry. Velvety on the entry, complex in the middle, extremely melting, with a crazy aromatic and tactile grace, the wine advances slowly, juicy and deep. In the very last moments of the palate, it shows a touch of austerity reminiscent of limestone, as if the vintage had invited it to highlight its origin. A wonderful identity. 2034-2075

The Wine Cellar Insider - Jeff Leve

About the wine:

The wine captivates with its display of flowers, crushed stone, black, red and blue fruits, espresso and thyme. It takes a little persuasion and patience, but the palate is incredibly deep, pure, refined and lively. The wine gently coats the palate with layers of salt-infused black and dark red fruits. The deep, seamless finish crosses the 60-second mark and goes on to reveal its essence of minerals and fresh berries. This could be the longest wine of the vintage. Drink between 2030 and 2075.

Anthocyanes - Yohan Castaing

About the wine:

Very ripe and blueberry, notes of blackcurrant, "al dente" black fruit with a very delicate floral framework. Slightly minty on aeration. Fleshy, juicy texture, almost crunchy despite its density, with sublime tension and remarkable length. Very precise, crystalline, fresh tannins. A wine that expresses itself in delicacy, precision and freshness, with a more charming, coated side. Very airy. Slightly different aesthetics, but still the fundamentals of precision, aromatic freshness and tension. An Ausone that will be remembered for both its uniqueness and its excellence.