Château Ausone

The deep garnet-purple colored 2017 Ausone is a blend of 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot. It sashays out of the glass with gregarious scents of baked red and black plums, wild blueberries and boysenberries plus touches of violets, espresso, licorice and melted chocolate with wafts of iron ore and tilled soil. Medium-bodied, the palate is an exercise in poise, featuring beautifully ripe, silken tannins and bold freshness to support the fragrant multi-layers, finishing very long and very minerally.

Tasted blind. Deep ruby colour. Explosive and ripe aromatics – brambly fruit, kirsch, nutmeg and cinnamon. Quite tropical. A big glob of fruit on the palate, very ripe and forward. This fleshy and seductive wine is very intense and impressive, but perhaps more for a glass than a full bottle. Very glossy to the finish.

Love the perfume and pretty, transparent fruit. Purity. Raspberries. Full-bodied, extremely focused and bright with clarity and beauty. Juicy and savory. Chalk and light chocolate at the finish. Try after 2024, but gorgeous to taste already.