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Noncontractual photograph
Vintage | 1990 |
Rating | 90-94 |
Classification | St Emilion - 1er Grand Cru Classé A |
Region | Bordeaux |
Appellation | Saint Emilion |
Colour | Red |
Volume | 0.75 l |
Price | More than 300 € |
Château | Ausone |
Country | France |
As Angelus, Cheval Blanc and Pavie, Ausone is ranked as Premier Grand Cru Classé A in Saint Emilion. Ausone is a tiny area of 7 acres located on the slopes of St. Emilion. Situated on the location of the villa of the Latin poet Ausonius, the area enjoys a southern exposure, terraced vineyards and very old grape varieties. The cellar, dug into the rock, is extraordinary. The wine, long known to be assertive, they are dense, intense with complex aromas that allow Ausone to rank amongst the best Bordeaux estates. The grape varieties are merlot, cabernet franc with a majority of cabernet franc (55%).
Pomerol
Pomerol
Margaux
Pauillac
Sauternes
Saint Julien
Moulis-en-Medoc
Saint Julien
DOMAINE HUET Le Haut Lieu 1990
Vouvray
Listrac
Long-time readers of this publication know that I believe Ausone is the most intellectually challenging wine made in Bordeaux. The wine often tastes as if it needs 40-50 years to shed some of its astringency and closed style. The 1990 is not a charming, precocious wine. It is closed, but the color is a dense, dark ruby with no amber or orange at the edge. The fruit is sweeter, and the wine is more muscular, richer, and broader in the mouth, without losing Ausone's tell-tale minerality, spice, and curranty fruit. There is a good inner-core of sweet fruit in this medium to full-bodied wine that needs another 15-20 years of cellaring.
Superb
Chewy, monolithic wine. Aromas of dried herbs and berries. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins and a tar, tobacco aftertaste. Puckers your mouth with tannins. Will improve with age.