Ausone 2022 1er Grand Cru Classé Saint Emilion
Country: France Region: Bordeaux (Saint-Emilion)
Varietal: Merlot 50%, Cabernet Franc 50%
Vintage: 2022 Colour: Red Style: Dry
Producer: Château Ausone
Tasting Notes
Only 3 families have owned Ausone since the 14th Century. Alain Vauthier has made massive improvements since taking full control of the winemaking and management of his family property in 1997. The wines made here are now in a totally different league from those produced in the 1970s and 1980s. Ausone vies with Pétrus and Cheval Blanc as the right bank's top château. With production levels even less than those of Pétrus, Ausone has become one of the most in demand and hard-to-find wines of Bordeaux. The 7.25 hectare vineyard has an average age over 50 years, but some vines are over 100 years old. It is planted with 55% Cabernet Franc, 45% Merlot and production rarely exceeds 2,000 cases.
The 2022 is a 50:50 blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The harvest started on September 5th and finished on September 27th. The yield was 35 hl/ha with some of the crop relegated to the second label "La Chapelle d'Ausone"
The 2022 Ausone, which was the earliest-picked ever on September 5 (although that is later than Cheval Blanc) has another very intense bouquet with layers of plush blackberry, blueberry, crushed violet and incense aromas that are beautifully entwined with the 100% new oak. Hints of blood orange emerge with a few minutes in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with silky tannins and perfectly pitched acidity. The slightly higher proportion of Cabernet Franc imparts a touch more pepperiness toward the finish. You can feel this on your tongue long after it has departed. There is a surfeit of freshness on the finish. This is an outstanding Ausone that can look forward to a very long future. 2030 - 2065
98
Neal Martin, vinous.com, February 2025
Hands down one of the wines of the vintage, shows power and depth coupled at every point with lift and grip, stretches out through the palate, slowly but surely delivering a tickle of spiced sage and saffron, with sappy blackcurrant and graphite. 100% new oak, harvest september 5 to 27, organic conversion, 54 years average vines, Vauthier family shows once again how well they judge construction and architecture. First year not officially a Premier Grand Cru Classé A, but they have kept the ranking off the label for a number of years, so no change on that level
100
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, March 2025
The 2022 Ausone opens in the glass with a brooding bouquet of raspberry preserve, licorice, rose petals and creamy new oak. Full-bodied, deep and dense, it's layered and textural, with a sweet core of fruit framed by powdery, youthfully grippy tannins, concluding with a discreetly heady finish. It's a serious, structured Ausone that will require a bit of patience. 2030 - 2060
95+
William Kelley, Wine Advocate, March 2025
A rich, bombastic wine with layers of coffee, bonfire and ripe blackcurrant fruit on the nose. The palate is brilliant and multi-layered, taming the exotic spice with high floral notes and sweet red fruits. This is both energy and opulence, a beautifully made and dense wine. Very long on the finish, with rich toasted spices matched by fleshy fruit. The tannins are silky smooth - plentiful but integrated impressively at this young stage.
95/98
Thomas Parker MW, Farr Vintners, April 2023
Wow. This is such a big and beautiful Ausone with huge depth that slowly uncoils. Really powerful, mineral and naturally concentrated, with iron, chalk and a rich, almost opulent core of black fruit, but really fresh, with chiseled tapenade and wood spices that only tiptoe on the nose. Superb intensity hidden beneath the palate, with a matrix of chalky tannins that vibrate, shine and extend. Nothing stops it at the finish, which lasts well over a minute. Almost beguilingly drinkable considering the tannin quality, which is so fine and energetic, but I'd give it at least 3-4 years to let the wood spices integrate more and let the wine grow with more complexity. A bigger Ausone with higher alcohol, but fantastic and rather outrageous. 60% cabernet franc and 40% merlot. This will age well for at least two decades.
98
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, February 2025
The Ausone 2022 is a blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc, with a yield of 38 hl/ha. The Merlot was harvested between 5th and 7th September and the Cabernet Franc between 21st and 27th September. It has a pH of 3.57, a TPI of 66, and it is opaque purple in color. The wine is completely closed on the first smell, requiring a lot of swirling to begin to release fragrant notes of dried roses, licorice, cast-iron pan, and cumin seed, giving way to a core of Morello cherries, wild blueberries, and redcurrant preserves. The full-bodied palate is an exercise in elegance, featuring very fine-grained, very firm tannins and breathtaking tension to frame the tightly wound red and black fruit layers, finishing with epic length and mind-blowing complexity. Holding its cards close to its chest, it's a hard wine to read at first glance, yet there's a lot of nuanced sub-text bound within the rock-solid structure. I see this slowly unfolding over many years to become a wine for the ages.
97/99+
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, May 2023
50% Cabernet Franc, 50% Merlot. Cask sample.
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. (JL) 15%
Drink 2032– 205
18
James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson.com, May 2023
