2023 Ausone (Ex Chateau 2023)

The 2023 Ausone is a somber, mysterious wine. Black cherry, pomegranate, lavender, menthol, licorice, sage and pipe tobacco open gradually. The 2023 is a wine of reserve today, as it so often is at this stage a few months after bottling. That should not be an issue in a few years. Readers should not be contemplating opening a bottle anytime soon. Deeply pitched floral, savory and mineral notes appear with a bit of time in the glass, but the 2023 is a wine that requires time. The only question is how much.

As to the Grand Vin, cassis, candied violet, orange blossom, and a beautiful sense of minerality all emerge from the 2023 Château Ausone, a deep purple-hued beauty that's a classic 60/40 split of Cabernet Franc and Merlot aged 20 months in new barrels. It's medium to full-bodied, has a concentrated, layered mouthfeel, classy, perfectly integrated oak, and a great finish. It picks up this flinty, smoky minerality as it sits in the glass, and it has a liquid rock-like character that’s hard to describe. It's going to be pleasurable with just 4-6 years of bottle age but not hit maturity for a decade and will evolve gracefully over the following 20-30 years. Drink 2034-2063.

The 2023 Ausone has a very expressive bouquet that bursts from the glass with precocious black cherry, violet and crushed stone aromas, just a hint of shoe polish in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with ultra-smooth, cashmere tannins (often the signature of this estate), a silver thread of acidity, pleasing flesh and depth toward the sensual finish that is reassuringly precise and pure. Quintessential Ausone that will give many years’ drinking pleasure.