Ausone 2005 (6.0L)

100 WA / 100 VM / 100 WI / 100 WS / 99 WCI / 97-99 WE / 18.5 JR

This brilliant, blue/black-hued offering reveals an extraordinarily youthful, but promising nose of incense, blueberries, blackberries, currants, licorice, and crushed rocks. This intense 2005 boasts powerful, super-layered, multidimensional flavors with tremendous extraction, yet they come across as incredibly sublime, even delicate for such a stunningly concentrated, full-bodied effort. A masterpiece of concentration and balance, it will no doubt be drinking well a century from now. Anticipated maturity: 2030-2080+. - Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate

The 2005 Ausone is magnificent. A wine of soaring intensity and class, the 2005 dazzles from the very first taste. The aromatics alone are captivating, with notes of cinnamon, mint, crushed rocks, blood orange, mocha and incense. Graceful and stately in bearing, the 2005 boasts tremendous purity and breathtaking balance. Readers will find a stunning Saint-Émilion that is just at the beginning of what promises to be a very long drinking window that will be measured in decades. It is a towering achievement from the Vauthier family.-- Antonio Galloni - Vinous Media

The 2005 Ausone is a blend of 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot. Deep garnet-brick in color, it needs a lot of swirling to coax out the most evocative perfume of Morello cherries, raspberry preserves, redcurrant jelly, and red roses with hints of aniseed, forest floor, truffles, and iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, it has a very firm, grainy texture and an incredibly lively backbone. So, so beautifully perfumed, it finishes incredibly long and mineral-laced. This undoubtedly already offers a WOW experience, but I would give it another 5-7 years in bottle to truly let that perfume emerge, then drink it over the following 40-50-years+. Located on the limestone plateau over the town of Saint Emilion, it covers only 17 acres and has been owned exclusively by the Vauthiers (Alain) since the mid-1990s. It is usually composed of 50-60% Cabernet Franc with Merlot making up the rest of the blend. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent

I love the tobacco, berry, cigar box, toasty oak, ripe fruit and fresh mushroom flavors in this full-bodied red, which has ultralayered tannins and vanilla, new oak and berry character. Powerful and superconcentrated, with great length. This is a muscular, full-throttle wine, racing very, very fast. Best after 2019. 1,330 cases made.-Wine Spectator