Château Ausone 2025

A beautiful floral fragrance on the nose, smells like a wild meadow with a touch of toasted spice, vanilla and clove along with black chocolate and blackcurrants. Smooth and creamy, round and filling with a really bright core of fresh acidity backed by mouthwatering acidity and a fleshy but really cool finish. The juicy aspect is lovely – this is a fun Ausone dare I say it, with the focus on fruit purity and clarity. Certainly an elegant and finessed wine. Chewy, supple, forward and friendly. It’s not so dense but it is complex. Perhaps a touch hands off, but I love the cool freshness and the sense of direction. Nothing is out of place. Earliest harvest ever, started 2nd September with main harvest on the 8th. The first time to have Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend and no Chapelle this year, the first time since the second wine was introduced in 1994. 3.5pH. Ageing 100% new oak. A yield of 29hl/ha.

With 2025, the oceanic influences in the perfume are strong, from there you find flowers, cigar wrapper, spice, licorice, and deep red fruits. The palate delivers intensity, concentration, fleshy, and palate-coating levels of fruit, minerality, herbs, peppery spices, plums, cherries, and black raspberries. The finish is more vibrant than usual, so you get to enjoy its wealth of fruit, with all of its vivacious character, length, elegance, and minerality. For Ausone, you can enjoy it relatively early, with only a modicum of aging. The wine blends 65% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. This marks the debut vintage for Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend for the Grand Vin. For the first time since 1995, (The year they created La Chapelle) no second wine was produced, hence the large Cabernet in the blend. 13.7% ABV. 3.5 pH. Harvesting took place September 2 - September 23. This is the earliest start to a harvest in Ausone's history. Yields were 29 hectoliters per hectare. Drink from 2032-2065. 97-99 Pts

Nuanced layers of rose petals and iris flowers, knitted down, textural and expansive, will take its sweet time to uncoil and uncurl, but you can see exactly how rewarding it will be to follow its journey. A stunning example of Ausone. Harvest September 2 to 23. No Chapelle. 30hl/h yield, 3.5ph, 100% new oak.

So much finesse, depth and subtlety on the nose, with a multitude of aromas combining notes of peony, licorice and raspberry, rounded out by a touch of black berries and licorice. On the palate, the depth promised by the bouquet is fully delivered. It shows an ability to unite intensity, freshness and character in a profile that is incisive, persistent, mouthwatering and even silky. Everything is seamless, driven by an unlikely energy, subtly measured and underpinned by a crunchy acidity. The floral nuances perceived on the nose reappear on the finish, enhancing the precision, the definition and, above all, the persistence—endless, moreover. A linear, powerful, refined, mouthwatering wine, ready to defy the decades ahead, yet also sure to delight those who drink it (too) young!

Deep color with purple and black highlights. An intense, very refined nose that becomes subtle, noble and complex as the wine is swirled in the glass. Lace-like from the very first sip, supported by a fine, silky richness that glides across the palate, the wine melts away—juicy, precise and sophisticated. After the mid-palate, it rises into a finish with a touch of positive austerity. Great length. Blend: 65% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot, and for the first time, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Alcohol: 13.7% - pH: 3.54. Yield: 29 hl/ha. Ageing: 20 months in new barrels in the underground quarries. Harvest - Merlot: September 2, 8, 12 - Cabernet Franc: September 15, 16, 18 - Cabernet Sauvignon: September 23.