Chateau Ausone (Futures Pre-sale) 2009

"Such a dreamy, perfumed aroma to this wine. Full-bodied, but wonderfully polished and integrated. It touches every millimeter of your palate and the texture makes you want to cry. It touches your soul. Goes on for minutes. Another perfect red?
Barrel Sample: 97-100 Points"

100 Points

Wine Spectator

"Incredible nose of currants and blueberries. Flowers too. Licorice. Such purity on the nose of Cabernet Franc. Full body, incredible structure, with fabulous tannins and a long, long finish. Built out of stone. The prefect Ausone. Try after 2022."

100 Points

James Suckling

"With huge freshness, the wine almost sings with elegance, despite its 14.5 percent alcohol. The texture is opulent, full of intense black fruits and a core of solid tannins. Impressive balance.
Barrel Sample: 97-99 Points"

99 Points

Wine Enthusiast

"A masterpiece in the making, proprietor Alain Vauthier’s 2009 Ausone boasts a dense purple color along with notes of powdered chalk, crushed rocks and wild blue, red and black fruits. Extravagantly rich with great minerality, precision and freshness as well as a voluptuous texture (unusual for a baby Ausone), this is an extraordinary wine. Sadly, there are fewer than 1,200 cases ... for the world. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2060+.
Rating: 98+"

98 Points

The Wine Advocate

"(a 55/45 blend of cabernet franc and merlot; cropped at 27 hectoliters per hectare; ph 3.56; 14.5% alcohol; 100% new oak) Bright, saturated ruby-red. Very cabernet franc- and limestone-driven on the nose, offering enticing scents of red berries, cocoa, spicy minerals and violet. Impressively intense flavors of red and dark berries are complicated by bitter chocolate and minerals. This serious, weighty blockbuster is given great verve by strong, mouthwatering acidity. Substantial but even tannins saturate the palate, and a captivating note of cedar emerges with air. This wine is going to require a lot of time in the cellar, but is starting its life with outstanding balance and class.
Barrel Sample: 94-97 Points "

97 Points

International Wine Cellar