Chateau Ausone 2013

Chateau Ausone 2013 is a Bordeaux wine from Saint-Emilion appellation , one of only four wines, along with Chateau Angelus, Chateau Cheval Blanc and Chateau Pavie to be ranked Premier Grand Cru Classe in the Classification of Saint-Emilion wine. The winery is located on the Right Bank of France’s Bordeaux wine region in the Gironde department, close to the town of Saint-Émilion.

The style of wine at Chateau Ausone is unlike most other wines. Minerality, from the massive limestone deposits in the soil is what most tasters notice. The fruit retains a beautiful purity.

The wine is rich, full bodied and concentrated, yet it is not heavy. There is a lot of tannin, but the tannins are ripe. The wine offers powerful aromatics, filled with ripe black, blue and dark red fruits, accompanied by licorice, floral and crushed rock scents. Ausone is built to age. Millionaires with the funds to buy these wines, will need an equal amount of patience before the wines are mature.

Chateau Ausone is one of the few famed Bordeaux estates that have seldom changed hands over the years. In fact, only 3 different families have owned this Saint Emilion estate since it was originally created. Which is quite a feat when you consider the amount of musical chairs that takes place with all the buying and selling of Bordeaux chateaux.

The Lescours family from the 13th to the 16th centuries. This was followed by Jacques de Lescure and his heirs in the 17th century. At the close of the 17th century, The Chatonnet-Cantenat family along with the Dubois-Challon-Vauthier family took over.

Named for Ausonius, the ancient poet and statesman on whose villa the foundations are said to have been built, Château Ausone has a history of family feuding which has sometimes detracted from the success of its wine. In the 1800s, it began to climb the rankings of the St Émilion classification, gradually outclassing its rivals in the region under the stewardship of the Canterat family.