Château Ausone 2025
St-Emilion 1er Grand Cru Classé
Bordeaux, France
Regular price£2,172.00
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Arriving: Mid 2028
Shipping duty paid to Mainland UK is charged at a flat rate of £9.99 per consignment and POA for Northern Ireland or Islands.
Shipping under bond is dependant on location, but starts at £15 per consignment.
| Style: Red | Packaging: OWC |
| ABV: 13.7% | Closure: Cork |
| Organic: No | Drink from: 2035 |
| Biodynamic: No | Drink to: 2060 |
| Grapes: 65% Cabernet Franc; 30% Merlot; 5% Cabernet Sauvignon | |
Critic scores
97-99 RP, 96-98 NM, 95-97 AG, 99-100 JS, 95-97 JD, 97-99 LPB, 97 JA, 96 DC, 97-99 JL, 98-100 DB, 98-100 YB
Critic reviews
"A blend of 65% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2025 Château Ausone unwinds in the glass with notes of sweet raspberries and mulberries mingled with notions of mint, rose petals and blood orange. Medium- to full-bodied, lively and perfumed, with lovely energy, exquisitely refined tannins and a bright, precise finish, it shows extraordinary potential. Some discreet changes are underway at this address, with picking (between September 2 and 23) broken up plot by plot to a greater degree; a review of the estate's cooperage choices in pursuit of better integration; and, at least this year, no second wine for the first time since 1994—given the quality of Ausone's terroir and vine material, that seems entirely reasonable. The result is one of the most refined, classy Ausone vintages in recent years, and it will be exciting to follow these evolutions over the years to come."
William Kelley, April 2026, RobertParker.com
"The 2025 Ausone represents the entirety of the vineyard this year after trial blends convinced the Vauthiers not to make a Chapelle d’Ausone. There is also 5% Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend for the first time, from five tiny plots located on a terrace close to the quarry, so that heat reflects off the wall to ensure ripening. It was picked between September 2 and 23. Almost immediately, I noticed how that soupçon of Cabernet Sauvignon tilts the style of the Grand Vin in a different and, to my mind, positive direction. Beautifully defined, a little more sapid, perhaps just a tad less precocious than usual, there is a sense of classicism in this Ausone that I admire, terroir over growing season perhaps? The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, real depth, silky smooth, with layers of blackberry and raspberry fruit and hints of white pepper and clove. Very long, with a peacock's tail on the finish, this is a fascinating and alluring Ausone that will age with style."
Neal Martin, May 2026, Vinous.com
"The 2025 Ausone is powerful, dense and packed to the core. Readers will have to be patient with the 2025, as it is quite reticent. In 2025, the Vauthier family did not produce a second wine at Ausone. Consequently, the blend in the Grand Vin is a bit different than in most years, at 65% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Time in the glass brings out hints of blood orange, rose petal, mint and raspberry jam. It will be fascinating to see how the 2025 ages."
Antonio Galloni, April 2026, Vinous.com
"Nuanced layers of rose petals and iris flowers, knitted down, textural and expansive, will take its sweet time to uncoil and uncurl, but you can see exactly how rewarding it will be to follow its journey. A stunning example of Ausone. Harvest September 2 to 23. No Chapelle. 30hl/h yield, 3.5ph, 100% new oak."
Jane Anson, April 2026, JaneAnson.com
"A beautiful floral fragrance on the nose, smells like a wild meadow with a touch of toasted spice, vanilla and clove along with black chocolate and blackcurrants. Smooth and creamy, round and filling with a really bright core of fresh acidity backed by mouthwatering acidity and a fleshy but really cool finish. The juicy aspect is lovely - this is a fun Ausone dare I say it, with the focus on fruit purity and clarity. Certainly an elegant and finessed wine. Chewy, supple, forward and friendly. It’s not so dense but it is complex. Perhaps a touch hands off, but I love the cool freshness and the sense of direction. Nothing is out of place. Earliest harvest ever, started 2nd September with main harvest on the 8th. The first time to have Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend and no Chapelle this year, the first time since the second wine was introduced in 1994. 3.5pH. Ageing 100% new oak. A yield of 29hl/ha."
Geogina Hindle, April 2026, Decanter.com
"(Saint-Émilion; 65% Cabernet Franc; 30% Merlot; 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 29 hl/ha; pH 3.50; 13.7% alcohol; tasted, of course, at Ausone with various members of the family). There's no Chapelle d'Ausone this year. This is utterly devine, though it takes a little moment to let you in - you need to come to it at first. Subtly floral, but not so much the demonstrative blooms of violet as the subtler notes of rose petal, rose water perhaps and fresh field spring flowers. In fact, as it builds and breathes, we do find more iris and violet but these are not the first floral shades to reveal themselves. Black cherry, but again subtly, wild blueberry and mulberry. A little touch of soft leather and graphite. This is staggeringly beautiful - hauntingly so - on the entry (attack would be too agreessive a word). It's incredibly soft, succulent, seductive in its way, but never opulent or ostentatious, just divinely beautiful, poised, harmonious and supremely elegant. Ausone is perhaps the most essentially harmonious wine of the vintage. It signs off with an incredible taper on the finish leaving just a gentle touch of limestone tannin and grapeskin."
Colin Hay, April 2026, DrinksBusiness.com
William Kelley, April 2026, RobertParker.com
"The 2025 Ausone represents the entirety of the vineyard this year after trial blends convinced the Vauthiers not to make a Chapelle d’Ausone. There is also 5% Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend for the first time, from five tiny plots located on a terrace close to the quarry, so that heat reflects off the wall to ensure ripening. It was picked between September 2 and 23. Almost immediately, I noticed how that soupçon of Cabernet Sauvignon tilts the style of the Grand Vin in a different and, to my mind, positive direction. Beautifully defined, a little more sapid, perhaps just a tad less precocious than usual, there is a sense of classicism in this Ausone that I admire, terroir over growing season perhaps? The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, real depth, silky smooth, with layers of blackberry and raspberry fruit and hints of white pepper and clove. Very long, with a peacock's tail on the finish, this is a fascinating and alluring Ausone that will age with style."
Neal Martin, May 2026, Vinous.com
"The 2025 Ausone is powerful, dense and packed to the core. Readers will have to be patient with the 2025, as it is quite reticent. In 2025, the Vauthier family did not produce a second wine at Ausone. Consequently, the blend in the Grand Vin is a bit different than in most years, at 65% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Time in the glass brings out hints of blood orange, rose petal, mint and raspberry jam. It will be fascinating to see how the 2025 ages."
Antonio Galloni, April 2026, Vinous.com
"Nuanced layers of rose petals and iris flowers, knitted down, textural and expansive, will take its sweet time to uncoil and uncurl, but you can see exactly how rewarding it will be to follow its journey. A stunning example of Ausone. Harvest September 2 to 23. No Chapelle. 30hl/h yield, 3.5ph, 100% new oak."
Jane Anson, April 2026, JaneAnson.com
"A beautiful floral fragrance on the nose, smells like a wild meadow with a touch of toasted spice, vanilla and clove along with black chocolate and blackcurrants. Smooth and creamy, round and filling with a really bright core of fresh acidity backed by mouthwatering acidity and a fleshy but really cool finish. The juicy aspect is lovely - this is a fun Ausone dare I say it, with the focus on fruit purity and clarity. Certainly an elegant and finessed wine. Chewy, supple, forward and friendly. It’s not so dense but it is complex. Perhaps a touch hands off, but I love the cool freshness and the sense of direction. Nothing is out of place. Earliest harvest ever, started 2nd September with main harvest on the 8th. The first time to have Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend and no Chapelle this year, the first time since the second wine was introduced in 1994. 3.5pH. Ageing 100% new oak. A yield of 29hl/ha."
Geogina Hindle, April 2026, Decanter.com
"(Saint-Émilion; 65% Cabernet Franc; 30% Merlot; 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 29 hl/ha; pH 3.50; 13.7% alcohol; tasted, of course, at Ausone with various members of the family). There's no Chapelle d'Ausone this year. This is utterly devine, though it takes a little moment to let you in - you need to come to it at first. Subtly floral, but not so much the demonstrative blooms of violet as the subtler notes of rose petal, rose water perhaps and fresh field spring flowers. In fact, as it builds and breathes, we do find more iris and violet but these are not the first floral shades to reveal themselves. Black cherry, but again subtly, wild blueberry and mulberry. A little touch of soft leather and graphite. This is staggeringly beautiful - hauntingly so - on the entry (attack would be too agreessive a word). It's incredibly soft, succulent, seductive in its way, but never opulent or ostentatious, just divinely beautiful, poised, harmonious and supremely elegant. Ausone is perhaps the most essentially harmonious wine of the vintage. It signs off with an incredible taper on the finish leaving just a gentle touch of limestone tannin and grapeskin."
Colin Hay, April 2026, DrinksBusiness.com