Ausone - Saint-Emilion 2023

Wine Advocate

96

par Yohan Castaing le 10/04/2026

A blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot, the 2023 Château Ausone has turned out superbly, unfurling aromas of dark berries and cherries intertwined with spices, licorice, burning embers and a discreet touch of oak. Medium- to full-bodied, ample and velvety, it is suave and seamless, built around a dense core of fruit, framed by powdery, structuring tannins and concluding with a long, calcareous and precise finish. It will reward patience in the cellar.

Jeb DUNNUCK

96

par Jeb Dunnuck le 31/03/2026

As to the Grand Vin, cassis, candied violet, orange blossom, and a beautiful sense of minerality all emerge from the 2023 Château Ausone, a deep purple-hued beauty that's a classic 60/40 split of Cabernet Franc and Merlot aged 20 months in new barrels. It's medium to full-bodied, has a concentrated, layered mouthfeel, classy, perfectly integrated oak, and a great finish. It picks up this flinty, smoky minerality as it sits in the glass, and it has a liquid rock-like character that’s hard to describe. It's going to be pleasurable with just 4-6 years of bottle age but not hit maturity for a decade and will evolve gracefully over the following 20-30 years. Drink 2034-2063.

The Wine Cellar Insider

98

par Jeff Leve le 30/03/2026

Deeply colored, the wine is intensely floral, showcasing lilacs, roses, and violets. You also notice notes of espresso, licorice, black cherries, and raspberries, with a pronounced mineral essence. While the nose is impressive, the palate is even better. It is intense, rich, plush, and elegant, offering lift, purity, and refinement, all of which is enhanced by a strong oceanic influence felt through its layers of dark red, black, and blue fruits, espresso, and spice. The seamless finish lingers long after the wine leaves the glass. The wine blends 60% Cabernet Franc with 40% Merlot. Drink from 2030-2065.

Vinous

97,5

par Antonio Galloni le 16/03/2026

The 2023 Ausone is a somber, mysterious wine. Black cherry, pomegranate, lavender, menthol, licorice, sage and pipe tobacco open gradually. The 2023 is a wine of reserve today, as it so often is at this stage a few months after bottling. That should not be an issue in a few years. Readers should not be contemplating opening a bottle anytime soon. Deeply pitched floral, savory and mineral notes appear with a bit of time in the glass, but the 2023 is a wine that requires time. The only question is how much.

Vinous

96

par Neal Martin le 01/02/2026

The 2023 Ausone has a very expressive bouquet that bursts from the glass with precocious black cherry, violet and crushed stone aromas, just a hint of shoe polish in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with ultra-smooth, cashmere tannins (often the signature of this estate), a silver thread of acidity, pleasing flesh and depth toward the sensual finish that is reassuringly precise and pure. Quintessential Ausone that will give many years’ drinking pleasure.

Decanter.com

97

par Georgina Hindle le 01/02/2026

Richly fragranced on the nose, so full and heady almost. Ripe, perfumed, dried flowers. This has bounce and plushness, great concentration and sense of fullness in the mouth but with the most uplifting acidity that brightens the whole expression. A more fun Ausone dare I say it. Still with that charming perfume at the back and spiced notes creeping in on the finish but this is wildly enjoyable now. Sweet fruit makes the mouth water. A brilliant wine.

Jamessuckling.com

99

par James Suckling le 27/01/2026

The aromas of chalk, salt, purple fruit, black mushrooms and undertones of pencil shavings and dust are mesmerizing. Full-bodied with very fine, tense, firm tannins that frame the wine. It's very cool and suave in so many ways. Tannins are very integrated and melt beautifully into the wine. Lots of energy and tension. The fruit is clear and transparent. 60% cabernet franc and 40% merlot. Best after 2029.

My Bettane + Desseauve

96-97

par Bettane & Desseauve le 15/05/2024

Toucher de tannin brillant, bouche complexe, dense, racée et élancée sur fond de fleurs poivrées qui se mêlent à un fruit d’une grande pureté. On le jugera sur le temps long mais cet ausone s’est montré plus expressif que ses pairs lors des dégustations primeurs.

Yvesbeck.wine

98-100

par Yves Beck le 14/05/2024

Ausone positioniert sich langsam, genau genommen mit Gelassenheit. Er enthüllt erfrischende krautige und blumige Nuancen sowie einladende Noten von dunklen Beeren. Der Auftakt ist sanft und ebnet den Weg für einen breiten, seidigen, eleganten und dennoch kraftvollen Wein. Die perfekt eingebundenen Tannine bilden ein außergewöhnliches Fundament. Sie sind die perfekte Verkörperung der stillen Kraft und glänzen durch ihre Fähigkeit, sich mit so viel Ruhe und Finesse durchzusetzen. Ein bemerkenswerter Wein.

The Wine Independent

98-100

par Lisa Perrotti-Brown le 07/05/2024

A blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot, the 2023 Ausone has a pH of 3.63 and a deep garnet-purple color. It is very mute and reticent to show its personality to start, needing a lot of shaking and pleading to coax out a series of intense scents: fresh blackberries, violets, licorice, pencil shavings, and tar, leading to an undercurrent of Sichuan pepper and fertile loam. The medium-bodied palate has wonderful tension and is incredibly taut and tight-knit, offering glimpses at layers of mineral and floral accented fresh blackberry flavors. It is textured by incredibly ripe, fine-grained tannins, delivering a very long finish, laced with mineral sparkles.

The Drinks Business

96-98

par Colin Hay le 07/05/2024

Ausone (Saint Émilion; 60% Cabernet Franc; 40% Merlot; tasted at Ausone with Alain Vauthier; certified organic). Quietly spoken and introvert at first, but what it does reveal is utterly beautiful and all the more beguiling for being rather sotto voce. Graphite, cedar, and with lots of Cabernet Franc in evidence – that cedar and blueberry co-presence, a little thyme, more and more graphite and walnut with aeration and the black cherry notes coming through underneath all of that, bringing an aromatic sense of layering. Pot pourri and dried rose petals reveal themselves with more coaxing of the glass. The oak is still a little present, especially in the empty glass, but it only needs time. In the mouth, this is wonderfully gracious and svelte. Cool at first, as if the hyper-soft tannins refresh the palate and relax it to let in the dark fresh berry and stone fruit. Cherries and damsons, a little blueberry and bramble. There’s great density and compactness despite the breath and amplitude. This pushes out the cheeks, just a little, the tannins colleting at the front of the mouth. And there’s a brilliant grip and pinch just before the fantail finish, which is incredibly precise and lifted. Calm tranquillity. A timeless wine that it is a privilege to taste.

The Wine Cellar Insider

97-99

par Jeff Leve le 06/05/2024

Dark garnet in color, the wine is intensely floral, with lilacs, violets, roses, licorice, espresso, black raspberries, black cherries, and red currants. As good as the nose is, the palate is even better. The wine is rich, intense, and most importantly, elegant. There is a majestic sense of lift, purity, and refinement that is complimented by the strong touch its oceanic influence felt on its layers of dark red, black, and blue fruits, espresso, and spice. The seamless finish lingers long after the wine has left the glass. The key to the vintage here is the late, and light September rains that refreshed the Cabernet Franc just before harvesting. The wine blends 60% Cabernet Franc with 40% Merlot.14.2% ABV, 3.63 pH. Harvesting took place September 14-19 for the Merlot ,and September 25-30 for the Cabernet Franc. 2,000 cases were produced. Drink from 2030-2065. 97-99 Pts.

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

97

par Jane Anson le 06/05/2024

Density and well-cushioned fruit, another stunning vintage of a wine that somehow manages to make an effortless impression, edges of cloves and grilled sandalwood, full of nuance and capturing the aromatics depths and heights of the vintage, gorgeous. 100% new oak. Philippe Baillarguet cellar master, Vauthier family owners, organic certified in the vineyard.

Vinous

96-98

par Antonio Galloni le 30/04/2024

The 2023 Ausone is a powerful, heady wine. Dark, layered and explosive, the 2023 possesses tremendous depth and tons of sheer resonance, something that becomes increasingly apparent with time in the glass. Strong saline notes frame a core of dark-toned fruit, mocha, spice, new leather, pencil shavings and lavender. The savory, mineral-drenched finish is eternal. All the 2023 needs is time. Readers lucky enough to own it should be thrilled.

Vinous

96-98

par Neal Martin le 29/04/2024

The 2023 Ausone was picked September 14 to 30 and matured for a planned 20 months. It has a wonderful bouquet that is very floral in style and perfectly controlled, perhaps more refined than the 2022 (which incidentally had a degree more in alcohol). The palate is medium-bodied with a silky smooth entry, finely tuned with impressive mineralité. It just gently "rolls out" on the languorous finish. This is a more understated Ausone compared to recent vintages, but it exudes sophistication and could easily surpass the Vauthiers' 2022.

Falstaff

96

par Peter Moser le 29/04/2024

Dark ruby, purple reflections, subtle brightening on the rim. Spicy, red forest berries, fresh cranberries, a hint of herbs and blackberries, floral nuances. Juicy with ripe red cherries, balanced and fine, ripe tannins, fresh acidity, salty and mineral after- taste, appears light-footed, a refined wine for the table.

Alexandre Ma

97-98

par Alexandre Ma le 28/04/2024

Wine Advocate

95-97

par Yohan Castaing le 26/04/2024

The 2023 Ausone reveals an incipient bouquet of violet, smoke, dark wild berries, spices and cherries, all beautifully interwoven with creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with a rich chassis of tannin, it has a vibrant core of fruit and a long, mineral, vanillin-inflected finish. At 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot, this ranks alongside the 2014 vintage as one of the most Cabernet-dominant Ausone vintages of recent years, and it will mature for 20 months in new oak barrels.

Jamessuckling.com

98-99

par James Suckling le 25/04/2024

I don't think I have tasted an Ausone like this. The purity of fruit and fluidity is so primary, like perfectly picked grapes with their juice. Then there is citrus freshness. It's muscular, with toned tannins that caress the palate and give a seamless finish. This really could push the boundaries for the character of Ausone, in the way of finesse with structure. Watch it. 60% cabernet franc and 40% merlot.

Vertdevin

98

par Jonathan Chicheportiche le 24/04/2024