Chateau Ausone 2021

Inviting aromas of berries and plums mingled with vine smoke, spices and loamy soil introduce the 2021 Chapelle d'Ausone, a medium to full-bodied, melting and precise wine that's pretty and seamless, with lively acids and a long, penetrating finish. As usual, it's a blend of wine from young vines with a few barriques of declassified Ausone.

Admirably exposed to the east and south, the terroir of Ausone Castle is surrounded by a belt of rocks, collapsed quarries which shelters it completely from the north and west winds. These centuries-old vines can produce 20 barrels of a wine that has long been at the head of the great wines of Saint-Emilion and the great wines of France. The area of the estate represents 9 Ha. Also, the average age of the vineyard is 45 to 50 years old, however the richness of the soil constitutes the magnificence of the terroir: ¼ on a thin soil resting on starry limestones, ¾ on chalky clay-limestone coasts. The grape varieties present on the estate are 55% Cabernet Franc, 43% Merlot Black & 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. First Classified Grand Cru A in the classification of Saint-Emilion, work on the vines is traditional and the operations in green are carried out in the respect of the nature and for a quality of wine: stripping, harvest in green, manual harvesting, selection. After a traditional fermentation, the wines are aged in barrels 85% new.

First Grand Cru Classé A of Saint-Emilion, Château Ausone is one of the oldest property in the Bordeaux vineyards. Its history is that it occupies the site of the magnificent villa that the poet and proconsul Ausone owned in Lucaniac (Saint-Emilion). It is from here that his name comes from. This vineyard is for several centuries in the same family thus allowing to preserve very old vines. Today, the heirs of Madame Cécile Vauthier continue her work vintage after vintage.