1975 Ausone

The 1975 Ausone is a vintage that I had never tasted before. There is some maturity on the brick rim although it is commensurate with its age. The palate is a little loose-knit with leather and rusty piping usurping the black fruit. The palate is full-mature with soft tannin, quite leathery in style with a little dryness towards the finish. But there is a sense of vitality here unlike the preceding three vintages. You just come away thinking that any bottles should be drunk soon. Tasted at the Ausone vertical in London.

Considerable amber is creeping in at the edge of this wine, which shows notes of cinnamon, earth, red fruits, dried herbs, and mushroomy, forest floor notes. The wine is medium-bodied, still somewhat tannic, and very complex aromatically. The wine is not showing signs of drying out, but this is hardly a hedonistic style wine for those looking for more fruit-driven efforts. Anticipated maturity: Now-2020. Last tasted, 1/02.

Extremely severe and hard, with an overwhelming scent of damp, dirty earth and herbs, this austere, fruitless style of claret may last another 50 years, but it is hollow and charmless. Interestingly, the spectacular 1976 is a candidate for the "wine of the vintage." Feb 1996, www.robertparker.com