Château Ausone

Review of the Estate

Chateau Ausone is a Bordeaux wine from Saint-Émilion appellation, one of only four wines, along with Chateau Angèlus, Chateau Cheval Blanc and Chateau Pavie to be ranked Premier Grand Cru Classè (A) in the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine. Chateau Ausone is located on the Right Bank of France's Bordeaux wine region in the Gironde department, close to the town of Saint-Émilion.

Chateau Ausone also produce a second wine named Chapelle d'Ausone.

Placed on the western edge of 11th century village Saint-Émilion, with elevated vineyards facing south on steep terraces in ideal situation, Chateau Ausone takes its name from Decimius Magnus Ausonius (310-395 AD), a statesman and poet from Bordeaux who owned about 100 acres (0.40 km2) of vineyard. It is believed by some that Chateau Ausone is on the foundations of his villa.

The modern estate can be dated to the 18th century, when it was owned by Jean Cantenat. Later, under the ownership of the Lafargue family, Chateau Ausone was inherited by Edouard Dubois who steered the chateau through the difficulties of the late 19th century, and in 1916 added the adjacent Chateau Belair to their estate. The chateaux were run separately, although both age their wine in the Ausone cellars, caves in the limestone cliffs beneath the town of Saint-Émilion. After Dubois died in 1921, his widow Heylette Dubois-Challon and Dubois' children of a previous marriage who married into the Vauthier family took control over the estate.

Chateau Ausone was one of a few estates which escaped the terrible frost of 1956, unlike its neighbour Cheval Blanc that lost several years' vintages. Other neighbours suffered the destruction of their vines. Despite being one of the great names of Bordeaux, Chateau Ausone fell into decline until Pascal Delbeck was appointed winemaker in 1976.

For several years Chateau Ausone was jointly owned by the Dubois-Challon and Vauthier families. After an unsettling time, feuding in the courts was brought to an end when the Vauthiers bought the Dubois-Challon shares in the mid-1990s. Alain Vauthier became managing director of Chateau Ausone, while Heylette Dubois-Challon won the right to live at the chateau until her death in 2003.

Michel Rolland was appointed consultant oenologist in 1995.

Château Ausone Wine List