- CRITICAL REVIEWS
- WINEMAKER NOTES
JD
95
Jeb Dunnuck
(Rating 93 - 95+) The 2018 Chapelle D'Ausone is another second wine that can easily compete with most estates’ top wines. Coming from a blend of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon that will spend 20 months in oak, it tastes like a mini Château Ausone with its beautiful limestone minerality and sweet black fruits, spice, and graphite aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, concentrated, with building structure, it’s a serious second wine that’s going to benefit from 3-5 years of bottle age and keep for two decades. Reviewed by Jeb Dunnuck, Issue date: May 2019. Drinking window: n/a.
RP
94
Robert Parker Wine Advocate
(Rating 94+) The 2018 Chapelle d'Ausone is made of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple in color, as impenetrable as this wine's big-brother grand vin wine is, this is the precocious, show-off younger sibling. It comes skipping out of the glass with bright, cheery scents of redcurrant jelly, black raspberries, stewed plums and Black Forest cake, giving way to suggestions of rose oil, dusty soil and garrigue. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is jam-packed with juicy black and red berry layers, framed by beautifully ripe, finely grained tannins and tons of freshness, finishing long and perfumed. Delicious right now, if money's no object, buy this and the grand vin. The 2018 Ausone is going to take a good few years to come around, but this second wine offers a true enough taste of that epic feast of a wine to come. Reviewed by Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Issue date: March 2021. Drinking window: 2022 - 2040.
V
94
Vinous
Chapelle d'Ausone might very well be the best second wine in Bordeaux in 2018, and it is certainly a lot more compelling than many top cuvees. Inky, deep and voluptuous, the Chapelle shows all of the natural suppleness of Merlot to great effect. Soft curves and silky tannins round things out in style. It is a drop-dead gorgeous beauty from the Vauthier family. Simply magnificent. Reviewed by Antonio Galloni, Issue date: March 2021. Drinking window: 2025 - 2038.
2018 La Chapelle d'Ausone, Saint-Emilion, France
Chateau Ausone is a highly regarded wine estate in the Saint-Émilion region of northeastern Bordeaux. It is one of the prestigious few Saint-Émilion producers with Premier Grand Cru Classé A status – and one of only two estates (the other being Château Cheval Blanc) to hold this status since the inception of the classification in 1955.