Château Ausone - Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2010

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

98 / 100

par Stephen Tanzer le 31/08/2013

Deep, saturated ruby-red.  Musky aromas of black cherry, black raspberry, coffee, violet, Christmas spices, minerals and exotic oak, complicated by graphite minerality.  Boasts uncanny intensity, calcaire energy and power on the palate, but there's also a deeply creamy texture brought by this superripe vintage.  Boasts extraordinary
inner-mouth aromatic character and finishes with great tannic spine.  The building, endless finish boasts great clarity and perfume.  A transcendent Ausone in its combination of power and elegance.  This stunning wine will be improving in bottle long after I've expired. 98 (+?) points

Wine Advocate

98 / 100

par Robert Parker le 01/03/2013

The 2010 Ausone struck me as another brilliant, potentially perfect wine, which should come as no shock to people who have been following Vauthier’s work over the last decade or more. Backward and intense, this wine offers up notes of crushed chalk/rock mineralilty interwoven with blueberry, black raspberry and cassis as well as some graphite and vanillin. It is incredibly rich but at the same time precise, fresh and vivacious. This is a super wine, but it will require enormous patience from its potential suitors. Forget it for a decade and drink it over the following 50+ years. 

One of the other perfectionist, compulsive producers in St.-Emilion is Alain Vauthier, who is now capably assisted by his daughter.

Wine Advocate

96 / 100

par Neal Martin le 14/02/2013

Tasted at the chateau. The Ausone 2010 is a blend of 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot matured in new oak for 20 months. It has a very introverted nose to the point where if you served them blind, I am sure you would prefer the Chapelle d’Ausone. There is a brooding intensity here: dark cherries, boysenberry, crushed stone, fresh mint... The palate is medium-bodied with ripe, filigree tannins. It is supremely well balanced with (again) perfectly pitched acidity. The finish is grippy, dense and a little spicy – vitamin like intensity. The Cabernet Franc is the “guv’nor”, the Merlot taking a back seat role. Masculine and quite profound, this is a superlative Ausone. 18,000 bottles produced. Tasted November 2012.

Jamessuckling.com

98 / 100

par James Suckling le 03/02/2013

The nose is so deep and almost endless with dried strawberries, blueberries, and incense. Citrus too. Some prunes. Full body, with chewy yet polished tannin quality and tension. Beautiful focus and balance with a richness and delicacy at the same time. Something almost Burgundian. It's the purity of fruit. 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot. Try in 2020.

Wine Advocate

98-100 / 100

par Robert Parker le 31/05/2011

2010 Ausone: Alain Vauthier’s wines have been so remarkable since he acquired full control of Ausone that readers probably feel I have thrown my critical wits away. However, the proof is in the tasting, and the 2010 Ausone is unquestionably extraordinary. There are 1,500 cases of this beauty, which exhibits an inky/blue/purple color as well as an exotic, seamless bouquet of incense, Asian spices, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Full-bodied with a striking liqueur of minerality as well as a magical combination of complexity, substance and nobility, it reveals softer tannins than I expected for this vintage, so perhaps it will be more accessible in its youth than recent Ausone vintages have tended to be. It is another prodigious effort from Vauthier that should be drinkable in 6-8 years and keep for a half century. Drink 2017-2042

Wein Wisser

19 / 20

le 30/05/2011

55% Cabernet Franc, 45% Merlot. 26hl/ha. 14,5 Vol.-%/ 18000 Flaschen. Sattes Purpur-Granat. Solide Nase mit vielen Gewürzen, Heidelbeeren, Cassis und Lakritze dahinter, noble Schwarzteenoten, alles ist frisch und klar ausgerichtet, aber nicht übershwänglich, eher ein beruhigendes, auf Perfektion zielendes Nasenbild. Erst im Gaumen konnt eine erste Süsse, die die Beerenreife unterstreicht, auch hier pfeffrig, fast pikant und mit vordergründiger Gerbstoff-Präsentation. Ein noch roher Diamant, der extrem viel Zeit brauchen wird, um sich zu harmonisieren und zu einem möglicherweise grossen Auson zu werden. 2024-2055

Asian Palate

98-100 / 100

par Jeannie Cho Lee MW le 24/05/2011

The 2010 Ausone exudes aromas of violets, cigars, plums, and blackberries and has an exuberant and lifted palate with velvety firm tannins. This is a perfect Ausone, better than the 2009, more concentrated yet with greater lifted acidity and intensity. A truly gorgeous wine, it has an amazing finish and great depth, suggesting it will keep for decades. 55% Cab Franc, 45% Merlot.

Le Point

18,5-19 / 20

par Jacques Dupont le 12/05/2011

Fruits noirs, mûre, bouche intense, serrée, matière riche, pleine, tanins serrés, belle finale sur les fruits mûrs, 3,53 de pH, perception acide avec une sucrosité naturelle O=2018 G=30 ans

TAST

19 / 20

par Bettane & Desseauve le 30/04/2011

Le bouquet est déjà d'un charme et d’une précision de fruits incomparable. L’ensemble brille par son tanin surfin, sa chair de taffetas, son allonge d’une profondeur interminable. Évidemment, un très grand Ausone.

Jamessuckling.com

96-97 / 100

par James Suckling le 30/04/2011

There is something almost unnerving with Ausone this year. It has almost supernatural fruit character and earth shattering acidity. Full and tannic, it finishes with a dark fruit jam but then goes to citrus acidity and freshness. A tiny bit too much.

Decanter Magazine

19,5 / 20

par James Lawther MW le 30/04/2011

As pure as the '09 but a more emphatic structure. 55% Cabernet Franc in the blend. Fragrant fruit and floral nose. Dense, ripe fruit and an abundance of firm but finely knit tannins. Minerally freshness provides a classical edge. Great length and persistence. Huge ageing potential. Drink 2022-2060. (19.5 points)

Wine Spectator

94-97 / 100

par James Molesworth le 30/04/2011

Very sappy and intense, offering racy red licorice, red currant and violet notes, with nice taut acidity and a long, minerally finish. Combines power and austerity, with excellent drive. For those who like backbone in their wines. —J.M.

The Wine Cellar Insider

95-97 / 100

par Jeff Leve le 25/04/2011

Ausone From a blend of 55% Cabernet Franc, 45% Merlot, the wine will be aged in 100% new oak for about 20 months. 67% of the yields were placed into Ausone, the remainder will become Chapelle d’Ausone . The nose offers aromas of broken rocks, sweet, ripe, dark berries, licorice, flowers, spice, minerality and smoke. Full bodied, rich, and concentrated, this supple, polished wine is filled with fresh berries, freshness, spice, jam, fennel, minerality and black cherry in the finish. 95-97 Pts

Jancis Robinson

18,5 / 20

par Jancis Robinson le 14/04/2011

26 hl/ha. Dark crimson with a bright crimson rim. Very serious nose – so different from the Chapelle! 55% Cabernet Franc, 45% Merlot. Lovely punch and scent on the nose and then real tight impact on the palate. Not the completeness of Pétrus but a very good vintage expression. Some warm berries triumph over terroir but this is sweet then tight and tough. Extremely youthful. Very drying on the end. Cabernet Franc has dominated since 2005. Very rich and exuberant overall. Vivacious and not too, too dry on the finish. Less exaggerated than some other recent vintages. Drink 2022-2040

Jean-Marc QUARIN

18 / 20

par Jean-Marc Quarin le 08/04/2011

Le vin est assez discret au cours de cette présentation primeurs. Il est vrai que les fermentations malolactiques ont été tardives. Bâti différemment des autres vins, il a évité tout caractère crémeux. La propriété s'est méfiée d'une trop forte extraction et ça m'a un peu manqué. Le vin se révèle surtout en seconde partie de bouche. Très distingué dans ses appuis, il s'achève très long et très aromatique sur un grain fin. a suivre à l'élevage.

Wine Enthusiast

98-100 / 100

par Roger Voss le 05/04/2011

A very concentrated and wonderfully perfumed wine, it has great balance, acidity and intense freshness. The superb fragrance of the Cabernet Franc has contributed to a gorgeous, black fruited wine that's likely to age well for decades.-R.V.