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  • Country ranking ?

    840
  • Producer ranking ?

    25
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    now to 2030
  • Food Pairing

    Beef

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The Story

Ausone owes its unique quality and longevity to a magic marriage of situation and soil. The steep slopes of the vineyard are arranged like an amphitheatre, facing southeast, which gives perfect exposure and maximum protection, and the soil is a mixture of clay and sand on limestone. When old vines and the ability to pick the entire vineyard quickly, due to the small size, are added to the recipe the result is something special. Ausone grows in...

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Wine Information

1961 was to become the decade’s and one of the century’s most adored vintages of Bordeaux red wines

Despite a frost in March, the growing season started on time and well. The frost combined with weak pollination caused by poor weather reduced the crop volume significantly.  July’s rains gave way to drier weather in August, and September bathed Bordeaux in beautiful sunshine. The grapes were small, thick-skinned and extremely concentrated,...

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Vintage 1961

1961 - the greatest Bordeaux vintage of all time?

I am writing this during the primeur campaign and I notice that Bordeaux château owners and merchants have been exceptionally quiet this year. I've been following this part of the market remotely for almost 30 years now and have been told about a lot of the "vintages of the century". Once wines are bottled and sold or vice versa, as is the case in Bordeaux, these claims tend to be changed.

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Tasting note

color

Deep and Brick red

ending

Smooth and Extensive

flavors

Vegetal, Voluptuous, Toasty, Smoky, Leather and Mineral

taste

Balanced, Good texture, Developing, Medium-bodied, Rich, Round, Vigor and Dry

Verdict

Full-bodied and Well made

Written Notes

This is the second bottle of the 1961 Ausone that I have encountered. It is not quite as good as the one poured at the vertical in London a few months earlier. Deep in colour with some turbidity, it has an attractive bouquet with veins of blue fruit amongst the black, developing more floral aromas with aeration. The palate is surprisingly tannic and backward, impressive grip and structure with a light marine influence. This feels solid and swarthy with touches of brown sugar towards the finish. Very fine, although bottles can be even better. Tasted at the 1961 dinner Chairman Miaow’s in Hong Kong.

  • 90p
Late château release 2007, fill one centimeter below cork, recorked in 2007 om release. Bright ruby, so pure, so young. Pure blueberries, Christmas spices, leather, you can forget yourself in this nose. Perfect palate, fresh acidity, ripe tannins, superb fruit, intensity is just perfection, meaning not to much, but enough to cover everything in silk and velvet. The balance is beyond, fantastic wine and absolutely amazing length. This is perfection.
  • 100p
D 2 h / G 2 h Bright and clear cherry red colour with depth. Well-evolved nose with dark chocolate, English butterscotch, violets and root vegetable aromas. Medium-bodied wine with less refined style. Drying tannins and stony mineral flavours dominate the palate leaving the fruit beneath. Very lean in style with nice balance but lacking greater complexity. The nose was more promising. Still very fine wine which is not benefiting for further ageing, but will keep easily another 7-8 years.
  • 91p
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Information

Origin

St.Emilion, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Extraordinary

Value For Money

Good

Investment potential

Very Good

Fake factory

Serious

Glass time

1h

Drinking temperature

16
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