Chateau Ausone 2011

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "Combining power with great elegance, this wine displays superripe, rich fruits that are restrained by velvet tannins and the delicious perfumed character from Cabernet Franc in the blend. Juicy, rich, structured, it's a beautiful wine with a great future. Drink from 2020."

JAMES SUCKLING: "This is extremely open and aromatic, with exotic fruit. Extremely wild. Full body, firm, silky tannins and a long, focused finish. This is very persistent and long. A top wine for the vintage. Muscular and toned. The old vines of cabernet franc make the difference here. 55% cabernet franc and 45% merlot. Try in 2019."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, zarter Wasserrand. Einladende Nuancen von Herzkirschen, feine tabakige Würze, zart mit Preiselbeeren und Cranberries unterlegt, florale Nuancen, mineralischer Touch, noch etwas verhalten, dennoch ist die Vielschichtigkeit des Buketts bereits angelegt. Stoffig, elegant, feines rotes Waldbeerkonfit, sehr gut integrierte Tannine, frisch und mineralisch, bleibt sehr gut haften, salziger Nachhall, delikate zitronige Noten im Rückgeschmack, gutes Zukunftspotenzial."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "From a blend of 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot, the wine goes through fermentation and maceration in thermoregulated wood vats and is aged in 100% new oak for about 20 months. Inky, dark and opaque with blue and purple accents in the color, this wine shows intense mineral, blackberry liqueur, blueberry, smoke, truffle and ripe, sweet essence of black cherry. Rich, concentrated, lush and mouth filling, the wine is graceful, elegant and balanced. This is a definite candidate for wine of the vintage."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "Its bigger sibling, the 2011 Ausone increases the level of intensity, elegance, complexity, richness and length. Nearly a mirror image of the La Chapelle, just with more going on, the Ausone boasts a more saturated purple color, and the wine has everything in large, intense proportions. The finesse and delicacy of all its components are what make it such a remarkable wine. The quality of the tannins and purity of the fruit make this another legendary effort that should age for 30-40 years."

WEINWISSER: "55 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 45 % Merlot. Ertrag: 29 hl/ha. Produktion: 18 000 Flaschen. Pfeffriges Bouquet, im ersten Ansatz schlank, rote Johannisbeeren, Preiselbeeren, etwas Cassis, Tabak und Tabakblatt, der Cabernet Franc zeigt sich in erfrischender, floraler Form, erste feine Holznoten im Untergrund. Im Gaumen mit starker jugendlicher Astringenz, wirkt vollkommen roh und unentwickelt. In diesem Stadium sehr schwer zu beurteilen, wird aber dem 2001er – in technisch verbesserter Form – nicht nachstehen. Hier sind – in etwa 12 Jahren – 19/20 Punkte wahrscheinlich."