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Collection Card

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2019 Chateau Ausone, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, France 750ml

Vintage
2019
Producer
Chateau Ausone
Country: 
France
Region: 
Bordeaux
Sub-Region: 
Saint-Emilion / Saint-Emilion Grand Cru
Grape/Blend
Bordeaux Blend Red
Pairing
Beef and Venison
Format
Standard Bottle (750 mL)

The 2019 Ausone was picked September 20-27 for the Merlot and October 3, 5 and 7 for the Cabernet Franc, then matured for 20 months in new French oak with light toasting. This is very refined and focused on the nose, less opulent compared to recent vintages, and very sophisticated, with hints of Montecristo cigar interwoven through the red fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine but quite firm tannins that frame the lightly spiced black fruit. Touches of pencil lead and white pepper appear toward the prolonged finish. This very composed Ausone might actually drink earlier than other vintages but unequivocally has the substance to age with grace in bottle. There is an abiding sense of completeness here.

Vinous Media Neal Martin
99

Unwinding in the glass with deep aromas of wild berries, vine smoke, orange rind, exotic spices and violets, framed by a deft application of classy new oak, the 2019 Ausone is full-bodied, rich and concentrated, with beautiful purity of fruit, lively acids and ripe but abundant structuring tannins. Deep, layered and vibrant, it's full of potential and will likely emerge as one of the most long-lived 2019s. This is another magical wine from what many consider to be Saint-Émilion's greatest terroir, and it will demand and richly reward patience.

One of Bordeaux's greatest terroirs, perched on the edge of Saint-Émilion's limestone escarpment, Ausone comprises vineyards on the slopes (of which one, "Le Poirier," situated directly below the château, supplies the core of the assemblage) and on the walled terraces that cling to the top of the plateau. It's a sheltered mesoclimate, planted predominantly with Cabernet Franc, with at most 1.2 meters of clay above the rock. The vineyards are old, and when missing vines have been replaced, the replacements are tagged and harvested separately. In the winery, the fruit ferments in wooden vats with twice-daily délestages (rack-and-return) until alcoholic fermentation begins to subside, at which point the cap is simply moistened until the moment of décuvage and pressing. Maturation follows, in a cool former quarry hewn from the limestone, in entirely new barrels (mainly from Taransaud and Demptos) and lasts for some 20 months. The result is one of the region's most characterful and long-lived wines, endowed with striking intensity, precision and persistence, and the 2019 vintage is another terrific success for Ausone's custodians, the Vauthier family. William Kelley

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
98+