Review of the Estate

Chateau Ausone is a Bordeaux wine from Saint-Émilion appellation, one of only four wines, to be ranked Premier Grand Cru Classé (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 Chateau Ausone.

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. Alain Vauthier became managing director of Chateau Ausone, while Heylette Dubois-Challon won the right to live on the chateau until her death in 2003.

Michel Rolland was appointed consultant oenologist in 1995.

Vineyard

Surface area: 17.3 acres

Grape Varieties: 50% Merlot, 50% Cabernet Franc 

Average age of vines: 50 - 55 years

Density of plantation: 6,000 - 7,8000 vines per hectare

Average yields: 35 hectoliters per hectare

Average cases produced: 1,800 per year

Plateau of maturity: 5 - 100 years 

Robert Parker Ausone 1990 Review

Score: 91 Points

After revealing some amber at the edge as well as copious aromas of fruitcake, crushed rocks, incense, and a weedy character, the 1990 Ausone offers up sweet, jammy fruit notes as well as a firm finish with the tell-tale crushed rock minerality that this estate often achieves. The aromatics suggest a fully mature wine, but in the mouth, the firm structure and density indicate this effort needs more time. This wine gives off mixed signals, and I suspect it will last much longer than it appears, but only time will tell. There is a lot to like here, but the 1990 is not one of the most profound Ausones, such as those made since 1998. Owners should try a bottle and make up their own minds, but I think it has another 10- to 15-year window of maximum pleasure. Release price: ($3500.00/case)

Score: 91 points