Château Ausone, 2025 - Magnum
Château Ausone, 2025 - Magnum
- 150cl
- 14%
- Red Still
- Cabernet Franc, Merlot
Please note, en primeur wines are not available for delivery until they arrive in the UK
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Est. delivery in 2028.
Château Ausone occupies the most coveted site in Saint-Émilion, perched on the limestone slopes where Cabernet Franc and Merlot achieve something close to perfection. The 2025 vintage captures all the precision and intensity we've come to expect from this legendary estate, where just seven hectares produce one of Bordeaux's most sought-after wines.
What the critics say:
"Dark ruby garnet, violet reflections, subtle edge brightening. Nuances of orange zest, ripe cherries, a hint of dark forest berries, floral touch, delicate precious wood spice, mineral nuances. Juicy, tightly meshed, red fruit nuances, fine spice notes, finesse-rich structure, elegant, well adhering, red berry on the finish, finesse-rich, mineral-salty, very good length, delicate style, delicate licorice, sure maturity potential."
The vineyard clings to Saint-Émilion's southern slope, where seven precious hectares sit atop the famous limestone plateau at 90-100 metres elevation. This calcaire à astéries limestone, formed from ancient starfish fossils, provides extraordinary drainage whilst retaining just enough moisture for the vines during dry spells. The steep gradient ensures perfect sun exposure whilst the limestone imparts the mineral precision that makes Ausone unmistakable. Clay pockets scattered throughout add body and structure to complement the limestone's elegance.
Saint-Émilion represents Bordeaux's right bank at its most sublime, where Merlot and Cabernet Franc reign over limestone and clay soils. Unlike the Médoc's gravel-loving Cabernet Sauvignon, here the focus shifts to elegance and minerality rather than pure power. Ausone sits at the apex of the appellation's classification system as one of only four Premier Grand Cru Classé A estates. The appellation's 800 hectares produce wines that mature more gracefully than their left bank counterparts, developing complex tertiary flavours whilst retaining freshness for decades.
The 2025 Bordeaux vintage emerged from one of the most demanding growing seasons in recent memory — the earliest budbreak since 1989, June temperatures second only to 2003 since records began, and an unusually early harvest beginning in August for the whites. Conditions that should have produced heavy, overripe wines. They didn't. Decanter's Georgie Hindle, who tasted close to 200 wines ahead of the formal campaign, describes "exceptional concentration, aromatic purity and a freshness that contradicts the record-breaking heat.
The early critical consensus places 2025 stylistically between the precision of 2020 and the structure of 2016, with the brightness of 2023 — a combination that suggests a very serious vintage indeed. Yields are dramatically low, the smallest crop since 1991, with production across the Gironde running around 15% below the five-year average. The quality is here. There simply isn't very much of it.
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Château Ausone
