Chateau Ausone 2018

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2018 Ausone is a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot. Deep garnet-purple in color, rather predictably, the nose is almost completely shut-down on first sniff, taking considerable aeration to begin to reveal its jaw-dropping perfume of ripe black cherries, wild blueberries and plum preserves, leading to suggestions of candied violets, molten chocolate, licorice and crushed rocks with subtle cedar and pencil lead hints. The medium to full-bodied palate (14.5% alcohol) is so tightly wound and nuanced at this stage, it requires a lot of focus unravel all that is going on here. In short: a lot. The ripe, rich, black and blue fruit layers eventually give way to the beautifully cerebral earthy/minerally subtext, carried by fantastically well-knit tension, delivering an incredibly long, foundation-shaking finish. If the earth doesn't move when you drink this, you're probably not doing it right."

WEINWISSER: "60 % Cabernet Franc, 40 % Merlot. Purpurgranat mit satter Mitte und violettem Rand. Was für ein Parfüm mit Waldhimbeeren und Cassis, sehr komplex und dicht verwoben mit rot- und blaubeeriger Frucht. Erkalteter Früchtetee und Preiselbeersaft, rote Kirschen. Am Gaumen mit engmaschigem Körper, verlangenden Tanninen sowie zarter Extraktsüsse. Im gebündelten Finale ruht der Gigant in sich, um dann mit einer gewaltigen Ladung von getrockneten blauen Beeren, Wacholder und Rosmarin zu explodieren. Für Pauline wird dieser Ausone bereits in einem sehr frühen Stadium viel Vergnügen bereiten. Dem kann ich nur zustimmen! Teilt sich dieses Jahr den 2. Platz mit Cheval-Blanc und ist auf direktem Weg zur Traumnote."

JAMES SUCKLING: "This is really exotic with wild-fruit character that I have seldom encountered in Ausone. Full-bodied yet reserved and very tight. Amazing depth and purity of fruit. Incredible beauty. Sexy."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "The color of purple ink, this wine displays an incredible level of density. It is hard to understand how they place so much fruit in a glass of wine and yet it is light on its feet! There is a purity here that resembles eating fruit off the vine seconds before it was picked. The finish is packed with minerals, red, black and blue fruit, flowers, spice, earth, rocks and stones and it has a 60 second impact. The cashmere tannins, freshness on the palate, density, length and purity are remarkable. The wine is made from a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot, reaching 14.5% alcohol with pH 3.65 and is aging in 100% new, French oak for 20 months. The Merlot was harvested on two days, September 25 and September 27 and the Cabernet Franc was picked October 3, 8 and 9. The wine was made from low yields of 32 hectoliters per hectare. If you have the money there are few wines at this level of quality produced from any vineyard in the world."

DECANTER: "Pauline Vauthier is the 11th generation of the family to be producing wine here. It's always such an incredible wine, and as ever you can see that they are playing a different game from so many others. The juice, the slate, the minerality, the drip-drip-drip of freshly squeezed berries, spice and barely-there tannins, the sapidity on the finish. Amazing!"

FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Zarte Gewürznote, angenehme Edelholznuancen, schwarze Beerenfrucht unterlegt, Brombeeren, kandierte Orangenzesten. Komplex, straff, feines Waldbeerkonfit, seidige, gut integrierte Tannine, mineralisch-salziger Touch, bleibt gut haften, gutes Reifepotenzial."

JEB DUNNUCK: "Ratcheting up the intensity, the 2018 Château Ausone has an essence of limestone-like character as well as thrilling notes of blackberries, black raspberries, white flowers, truffle, forest floor, and graphite. Possessing full-bodied richness, a deep, beautifully concentrated mid-palate, ample tannins, and a great finish, this is a powerful, layered Ausone that’s going to need 5-7 years of bottle age but should knock your socks off over the following 25+ years. The 2018 is a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot, brought up in a mix of new and used barrels."

VINUM: "Suberbe Aromatik von schwarzen Beeren, frisch beerig, dicht, von grosser aromatischer Intensität und Spannung, ewig lang mit ungemein frischen, seidigen Tanninen ohne Härte, von absolut majestätischer Art."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "This blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot is immensely rich, with a huge structure as well as a sophisticated perfume. It is a wine that is built by bright acidity and structured tannins, with a richness and elegance that demonstrates enormous aging potential."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Black core with narrow purple rim. Intense, aromatic if slightly charry cassis. Very fine fruit – intense but surprisingly juicy and fresh. Rounded yet powerful. Chewy and with a great undertow of terrific, perfectly ripe fruit and there's a much clearer influence of Cabernet Franc here, with that freshness it brings. Just fresh enough but would show a lot better if the sample were cooler. (JH)"