Chateau Ausone, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2010

This is precise, carved, confident, with palma violets, peonies and crushed roses floating out of the glass, luscious and yet carved, creamy fruits that are encased in steel. This one is nowhere near ready. A wonderful wine, huge persistency, with tannins that suggest decades ahead. This 2010 is still pretty reserved on the nose, even austere, but feels so effortlessly put together. Reminds me of the architectural angles that I was struck by during the 2010 vintage En Primeur tastings. Winemaker/cellar master Philippe Baillarguet, overseen by Pauline Vauthier and father Alain, 100% new oak for ageing.

The nose is so deep and almost endless with dried strawberries, blueberries, and incense. Citrus too. Some prunes. Full body, with chewy yet polished tannin quality and tension. Beautiful focus and balance with a richness and delicacy at the same time. Something almost Burgundian. It's the purity of fruit. 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot. Try in 2020.

Deep, saturated ruby-red. Musky aromas of black cherry, black raspberry, coffee, violet, Christmas spices, minerals and exotic oak, complicated by graphite minerality. Boasts uncanny intensity, calcaire energy and power on the palate, but there's also a deeply creamy texture brought by this superripe vintage. Boasts extraordinary inner-mouth aromatic character and finishes with great tannic spine. The building, endless finish boasts great clarity and perfume. A transcendent Ausone in its combination of power and elegance. This stunning wine will be improving in bottle long after I've expired.

Deep garnet in color, the 2010 Ausone opens with notes of sweaty leather, iron ore, Marmite toast and prunes with hints of dried herbs and charcuterie plus a medicinal waft. Full-bodied, the palate has a very racy line of acidity and well-played, chewy tannins supporting the maturing fruit, finishing with an herbal lift.

(a 55/45 blend of cabernet franc and merlot; 3.53 pH; 14.5% alcohol; reportedly from a crop level of just 26 hectoliters per hectare; a 67% selection for the grand vin Inky, glass-staining purple. The captivating nose offers very intense, pure aromas of dark plum, blackcurrant, balsamic coffee, bay leaf and violet. Supple and soft on entry, but boasts a huge structure underlying the ripe, glossy black fruit, graphite and ink flavors. Finishes smooth, creamy and very long. Destined to be a very long-lived Ausone, this is one of the top wines of the vintage and probably even better than the blockbuster 2009 made here. Ausone is one of the few properties that seems to have had great success harvesting its merlot late (October 9 through 15), more or less at the same time as its cabernet franc (October 13-16). But as Pauline Vauthier pointed out, they were the first to harvest in their immediate neighborhood.

The 2010 Ausone has a rich, opulent, modern style bouquet with crème de cassis and blueberry aromas tinged with crushed violet. There is plenty of new oak here. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a ton of blue and black fruit. It does not quite deliver the personality of its peers, although the velvety texture is very alluring. Maybe it will develop into something more interesting with bottle age, possibly going through a close phase? Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.