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Goedhuis, April 2023, Score: 96-98
Once again showing how great terroir, and a family winemaking heritage stretching back 12 generations, can make one of the best wines in the world. Walnut, cedar, sweet spice, ripe bilberry, blackcurrant and cool plum all rise from the glass. There’s such depth here. On the palate it’s supple, soft and sweet, so gentle on the approach, yet with high concentration and a counterpoint of tart black cherry juice towards the mid palate. The bracing acidity dovetails beautifully with the fine-grained tannins.
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Neal Martin, April 2023, Score: 95-97.5
The 2022 Ausone was picked from 5 to 30 September and matured for 20 months in French oak. These aromatics take a little time to open in the glass. Once they do, they are precise with wilted iris flowers infusing the black fruit and background pencil box and incense hints. The palate is medium-bodied with silver bead acidity threaded through the blackberry and bilberry fruit. Fresh and focused, this Ausone possesses a structured finish with a pinch of black pepper on the finish. Elegant in style, this Ausone almost creeps up in you and seduces, intellectual and persistent in the mouth. Upon departing, I couldn't help wondering if I had witnessed this Saint-Émilion demonstrates its full potential, hence the plus sign against my score. 14.4% alcohol. Drink 2030-2065
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Antonio Galloni, April 2023, Score: 95-97
The 2022 Ausone is dense, powerful and quite brooding in demeanor. Dark-toned fruit, spice, leather, licorice and dried herbs add to an impression of somber intensity. In so many vintages Ausone is immediately alluring, but the 2022 is a potent, backward wine that is going to require many years to be at its finest. The blend is equal parts Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Harvest took place between September 5 and 9 for the Merlot and September 21 and 27 for the Cabernet Franc. The 2022 is a decidedly hedonistic Ausone.
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Wine Advocate, April 2023, Score: 94-96+
A blend of equal parts Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the 2022 Ausone unwinds in the glass with aromas of plums, raspberries and cherries complemented by hints of crushed mint and spices, framed by a lavish patina of creamy new oak. Full-bodied, layered and rather muscular, it's deep and concentrated, its vibrant core of fruit framed by a serious chassis of rich, powdery tannins, concluding with a long, saline finish. Given its imposing levels of structuring extract, it will require patience.
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James Suckling, April 2023, Score: 97-98
This is really open with bright and flamboyant aromas of cassis and cherries. Blueberries. Some peaches as well. I don't remember a young Ausone like that. Full-bodied with flamboyant fruit and energy. Very fine tannins. They are there but you don't feel them. Supple but very fruity. And intensely fruity at the end.
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Decanter, April 2023, Score: 96
Quite intense nose, strongly perfumed and scented with purple flowers and a mix of red and black fruit. Fragrant with chocolate, tobacco, cedar, cinnamon, crushed stones and liquorice. Aromatically very inviting. Plush and sapid, tannins are ripe but the acidity gives it real tension so you get some intensity of texture and sharpness of fruit on the palate making it a bit serious and tense right now though with lovely detail and lots of precision in terms of tannins and fruit. Mouthwatering acidity is at the fore, really giving some zing and electricity to this while the crushed stones, liquorice and clove spice give the accents around the edges. Clear strength and concentration, such power underneath - you do feel the heat from the alcohol (15.4%!) but the acidity and soft mineral elements help keep the balance and frame though it’s not as demonstrably mineral as some years. Acidity does settle and this expands slowly - keeping the linearity and sense of focus but also giving hints to its power and ageability. Sculpted and well delivered, characterful and confident with long ageing potential. Long finish with graphite, pencil lead and toasted spices on the finish. 3.57pH 85% grand vin, 20,000 bottles. Harvest 5 and 9 September for Merlot, 21 and 27 September for Cabernet Franc. A yield of 38hl/ha. Potential upscore in bottle.
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Matthew Jukes, April 2023, Score: 19+
Bright, floral, plummy and perfumed, this is a stunningly pure Ausone with a buoyant front palate and a clean, long, grainy and subtle finish. It is perfectly proportioned, not as intense nor as concentrated as many, making up for this lack of grunt by showcasing precision and beauty. Plum and cherry-themed, this is a sensationally classy wine. The depth of aromatics, which is amazingly open and ready for inspection, is staggering. 2022 Ausone is all about the perfume right now, and I expect the palate to follow once its shackles are removed.
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Jancis Robinson, April 2023, Score: 18
Unusually aromatic at this early stage. Complex floral and red- and dark-fruit notes. Uncompromisingly dense with plentiful but fine tannins. Smooth texture. No hard edges but firm and persistent. Plenty of potential. (James Lawther MW). 15%. Drink 2032 – 2055
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Jeb Dunnuck, April 2023, Score: 96-98
The Grand Vin from this hallowed terroir is an even split of Cabernet Franc and Merlot that was fermented in wooden vats and will spend 20 months in new barrels. Its saturated purple hue is followed by an up-front, sexy, full-bodied Ausone offering a wealth of fruit as well as notes of black cherries, blueberries, chocolate, scorched earth, and an incredible sense of spring flowers. Concentrated and incredibly pure, with silky tannins on the palate, it has the texture and fruit to almost shine even now but should still evolve for 30 years or more.
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Jane Anson, April 2023, Score: 98-100
Intense and concentrated, with fennel, aniseed and liqourice root. Where Chapelle d'Ausone celebrates a wave of opulence in the vintage, this focuses more clearly on black tea, slate, intense black chocolate. Precise and well cut, this is creamy and exuberant without sacrificing elegance and balance. Amazing depths of flavour and grip. A true En Primeur sample where you know you are a long long way from this being ready to drink. The first year, incidentally, of not Premier Grand Cru Classé A, although the ranking has not been featured on the label since 2012. No irrigation at Ausone. 100% new oak. Harvest September 5 to 27. 7.25ha. Conversion to organic farming since 2020, Philippe Baillarguet cellar master, Pauline Vauthier owner and winemaker. Potential 100.