Château Ausone 2008

Bettane & Desseauve

About the estate:

The vineyards of Château Ausone are situated on a limestone hill, a small portion of which consists of a plateau with a thin layer of soil, while the majority of the area lies on the adjacent south-facing slope, where the soil is much deeper. This duality is an undeniable asset that the current owner, Alain Vauthier, has successfully enhanced. For twenty years, thanks to its harmonious structure and refined texture, Ausone has lived up to its longstanding reputation as the best wine of the appellation and, at times, of the entire Bordeaux region. Its aging potential is extraordinary.

Guide Hachette des vins

About the estate:

Named after the Latin poet who lived in Saint-Émilion in the 4th century, Ausone is said to have been established in the 14th century on a vineyard dating back to Roman times. Since the Middle Ages, only three families have succeeded one another here, leading up to Alain Vauthier, the current owner and a distant descendant of Pierre Chatonnet, who settled here in 1690. A legendary wine that has remained at the pinnacle (classified as A since 1959) thanks to this family continuity. Thanks also to its unique terroir: 7 hectares (including a high proportion of Cabernet Franc) situated on the edge of Saint-Émilion’s clay-limestone plateau, surrounded by a ring of rocks that shields it from the wind. In its two new underground cellars, a wine with astonishing aging potential is crafted; since 2007, it has been produced by Pauline Vauthier (Alain’s daughter) with the assistance of Philippe Baillarguet, the cellar master.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the estate:

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

About the estate:

On just 7 hectares ideally situated midway up the hillside, with a rare collection of mass-selected Cabernet Franc vines (which make up at least half of the final blend), Ausone produces a wine that is both deep and refined, imbued with great freshness and endowed with extraordinary velvety smoothness. It only fully reveals its potential after ten to fifteen years of aging and, in great vintages, is capable of evolving over several decades. Under the wise and visionary leadership of its 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. Alas, the château’s wines are nearly impossible to find and command astronomical prices. Since 2005 and the arrival of Pauline Vauthier to oversee winemaking, Ausone’s style—like that of the other Saint-Émilion estates owned by the Vauthier family—has gradually evolved toward greater crispness and a greater emphasis on the fruit’s brilliance (thanks in particular to the reduction in the percentage of new oak barrels used for aging, 85% instead of 100%).