Château Ausone 2023

60% Cabernet Franc, 40% Merlot. Ausone positions itself gently, precisely and with serenity. It reveals refreshing vegetal and floral nuances, as well as inviting notes of dark berries. The soft attack paves the way for a broad, silky, elegant and powerful wine. The perfectly integrated tannins provide an exceptional foundation. The tannins are the perfect embodiment of quiet strength, brilliant in their ability to assert themselves with such quiet finesse. A great success! 2028-2060

I don't think I have tasted an Ausone like this. The purity of fruit and fluidity is so primary, like perfectly picked grapes with their juice. Then there is citrus freshness. It's muscular, with toned tannins that caress the palate and give a seamless finish. This really could push the boundaries for the character of Ausone, in the way of finesse with structure. Watch it. 60% cabernet franc and 40% merlot.

Black colour. Intense, fine and clean nose with ripe, subtle fruit. Hints of liquorice and tar mixed with a woody base reminiscent of hazelnut. A great wine! On the palate, it is extremely meticulous, with a crystalline feel and a smoothness never before seen in a wine with such a high percentage of Cabernet Franc. Delicately fat and powerful, slender yet fleshy, it is long, deep and complex. A very racy wine. Blend: 60% Cabernet Franc, 40% Merlot. Alcohol content: 14°3 - pH: 3.6. Yield: 38 hl/ha.

The 2023 Ausone reveals an incipient bouquet of violet, smoke, dark wild berries, spices and cherries, all beautifully interwoven with creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with a rich chassis of tannin, it has a vibrant core of fruit and a long, mineral, vanillin-inflected finish. At 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot, this ranks alongside the 2014 vintage as one of the most Cabernet-dominant Ausone vintages of recent years, and it will mature for 20 months in new oak barrels. 2025 - 2055. Yohan Castaing