2021 Ausone
The Wine Advocate
RP 94+
Reviewed by: William Kelley
Release Price: NA
Drink Date: 2030 - 2055
The 2021 Ausone was the fruit of a challenging growing season, the estate's second year in organic conversion coinciding with notable diseases pressure, but the resulting blend of 65% Cabernet Franc and 35% Merlot (featuring a touch more Cabernet Franc than normal) was one of the most seductive wines of the en primeur campaign, its exotic perfume and crystalline purity evoking the great Ausone vintages of yesteryear and offering an unvarnished representation of this superb limestone terroir. In bottle, the 2021 remains an excellent wine, but at least out of the gates, its élevage (in 90% new oak, predominantly from Demptos and Taransaud, with four rackings) has taken the lead, intermingling aromas of vanilla, spices and toast with discreet notes of minty dark berries, cherries, petals and pencil shavings. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and fleshy, with an ample and enveloping core of fruit that retains its energy and purity but which gives way to a finish marked by somewhat assertive barrel tannins. Given the inherent quality of the wine and the terroir, I'm sure time will be kind to it, but I'm not quite sure it will ever realize the magical potential it showed in April 2022.
Published: Feb 09, 2024
2019 Ausone
Reviewed by William Kelley
Issue Date 8th Apr 2022
Source April 2022 Week 1, The Wine Advocate
Rating 98+points
Release Price NA
Drink Date 2029 - 2065
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-Emilion's
greatest terroir, and it will demand and richly reward patience.