2003 Chateau Ausone Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

Producer Notes

Chateau Ausone is one of the big names of Bordeaux and used to be one of only two Premier Grand Cru Classe wines in Saint Emilion.
The question for a lot of people before the mid-90s was whether it was worth that accolade. Clearly, although we’ve never tasted them, Ausone made great wines in the past but perhaps as early as the 1940s, it lost its way and made OK but not great wines. Some improvements were made through the 90s but it is only recently that it has started to reach up to rejoin Cheval Blanc at the top of the league.
The difficulty therefore is that there are only a few years of really good Ausone with any kind of decent age to them. As a result, if you’re buying to drink now, be a little careful and perhaps stick to the late 90s vintages. If you’re intending to cellar it though, the world is your oyster after 2000.
The blend was around 50%/50% Cabernet Franc / Merlot but the proportion of Cabernet Franc has increased over the last 20 years to around 70%.
Since 1995 the chateau has also produced a second wine called Chapelle d’Ausone (and perhaps the grape selection necessitated by having a second wine has helped the Grand Vin).