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  • Country ranking ?

    883
  • Producer ranking ?

    25
  • Decanting time

    1h30min
  • When to drink

    now to 2025
  • Food Pairing

    Lamb Stew with Spring Vegetables

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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 bottle in a highly individual way, expanding and becoming more ample, although always retaining its scent and finesse.

Ausone has only 7.3 hectares of vines and its vineyards (Merlot 50%, Cabernet Franc 50%) flourish on a steep, south-east facing slope, protecting them from cold north winds and westerly rain. Those vines at the top of the slope thrive on limestone (the `St.Emilion plateau') whilst those further down benefit from a clay/loam topsoil (the 'Côtes').

Ausone struggled during the 1950s and 1960s, but with the hiring of new régisseur Pascal Delbeck in 1976, the estate returned to producing wines worthy of its outstanding historic reputation. Recently Ausone has been at the very peak of its form and with the ubiquitous Michel Rolland now acting as consultant, it is now producing ultra-rich, lush, exotically fruity wines that require a minimum 10 years of bottle ageing.

 

History Château Ausone is a very old property with medieval historical significance. In it's more recent history, the wines from the château suffered from lower quality and a lessened reputation in the middle of the 20th century. Ausone began to return to it's historical positon of greatness with the hiring of Pascal Delbeck in the 1970's. Delbeck was in charge of Ausone beginning with the 1976 vintage. As of 1995, he no longer played a role in the winemaking but remained in charge of the vineyards. The property had been owned for generations by a partnership of the Dubois-Challon family and the Vauthier family. In the mid 1990's, the Vauthier family gained sole ownership of Château Ausone. Alain Vauthier controls all aspects of the winemaking. He began using Michel Rolland as the consulting wine-maker beginning with the 1995 vintage

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Vintage 1955

In Bordeaux, 1955 began with unstable weather conditions just before summer, but turned into an extremely favorable season by the end of the year. A glorious, sunny and warm, if not hot, period prevailed throughout August and September, until the right amount of much-needed rain arrived. The harvest turned out to be of the highest quality. However, because the vintage was overshadowed by the 1953, it offers value-for-money wines that can still be enjoyed today. Ripe grapes and autumn rains guaranteed an excellent year for Sauternes wines. Wines from this vintage vary greatly in quality, and many are dominated by tannins. Only the best wines, such as Lafleur, Cheval Blanc and Mouton-Rothschild, offer balance and richness.

 

 

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

Dark ruby color, ripe black currants, violets and vanilla, spicy, oaky scents. The wine has great finesse. It tends to be firm yet delicate and supple, great elegance developed with age.

  • 94p

Spectacular, truffy and utterly complex wine with great richness, balance and aftertaste. Tasted in March 2015. 97p.

  • 97p
Mid-shoulder fill, estate bottled. Bright ruby, brick rim. Coffee, heavy, rich, spicy and chocolaty nose with figs, prunes and licorice beneath. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, fatter body and not quite as charming, but who am I to complain? Still a great wine, balanced and fairly elegant, long.
  • 93p
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Information

Origin

St.Emilion, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Below Average

Value For Money

Satisfactory

Investment potential

No Potential

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