(TWI 98-100 points) A blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot, the 2023 Ausone has a pH of 3.63 and a deep garnet-purple color. It is very mute and reticent to show its personality to start, needing a lot of shaking and pleading to coax out a series of intense scents: fresh blackberries, violets, licorice, pencil shavings, and tar, leading to an undercurrent of Sichuan pepper and fertile loam. The medium-bodied palate has wonderful tension and is incredibly taut and tight-knit, offering glimpses at layers of mineral and floral accented fresh blackberry flavors. It is textured by incredibly ripe, fine-grained tannins, delivering a very long finish, laced with mineral sparkles. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

The aromas of chalk, salt, purple fruit, black mushrooms and undertones of pencil shavings and dust are mesmerizing. Full-bodied with very fine, tense, firm tannins that frame the wine. It's very cool and suave in so many ways. Tannins are very integrated and melt beautifully into the wine. Lots of energy and tension. The fruit is clear and transparent. 60% cabernet franc and 40% merlot. Best after 2029.

(97-99 points) Dark garnet in color, the wine is intensely floral, with lilacs, violets, roses, licorice, espresso, black raspberries, black cherries, and red currants. As good as the nose is, the palate is even better. The wine is rich, intense, and most importantly, elegant. There is a majestic sense of lift, purity, and refinement that is complimented by the strong touch its oceanic influence felt on its layers of dark red, black, and blue fruits, espresso, and spice. The seamless finish lingers long after the wine has left the glass. The key to the vintage here is the late, and light September rains that refreshed the Cabernet Franc just before harvesting. The wine blends 60% Cabernet Franc with 40% Merlot.14.2% ABV, 3.63 pH. Harvesting took place September 14-19 for the Merlot ,and September 25-30 for the Cabernet Franc. 2,000 cases were produced. Drink from 2030-2065. 97-99 Pts.

The 2023 Ausone has a very expressive bouquet that bursts from the glass with precocious black cherry, violet and crushed stone aromas, just a hint of shoe polish in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with ultra-smooth, cashmere tannins (often the signature of this estate), a silver thread of acidity, pleasing flesh and depth toward the sensual finish that is reassuringly precise and pure. Quintessential Ausone that will give many years’ drinking pleasure. -By Neal Martin on February 2026

Density and well-cushioned fruit, another stunning vintage of a wine that somehow manages to make an effortless impression, edges of cloves and grilled sandalwood, full of nuance and capturing the aromatics depths and heights of the vintage, gorgeous. 100% new oak. Philippe Baillarguet cellar master, Vauthier family owners, organic certified in the vineyard.

(WA 95-97 points) The 2023 Ausone reveals an incipient bouquet of violet, smoke, dark wild berries, spices and cherries, all beautifully interwoven with creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with a rich chassis of tannin, it has a vibrant core of fruit and a long, mineral, vanillin-inflected finish. At 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot, this ranks alongside the 2014 vintage as one of the most Cabernet-dominant Ausone vintages of recent years, and it will mature for 20 months in new oak barrels. - Yohan Castaing

Really ripe and fragrant black fruit, but fresh too, an element of graphite and liquorice and lots of florality. Really expressive and open. Clean, clear and juicy with a clean, direct, mineral backbone that sustains to a long finish. Missing some star power and a bit more heft, but it’s well defined, finessed and pure. Somewhat subdued, not over trying, very elegant with lovely wet stone elements around the sides and lots of menthol, liquorice, clove and blueberry freshness. Already approachable - this will be delicate and easy to drink. A little tense still but it has a long length. 3.63pH. 39hl/ha yield. Vineyard is organic certified.

(96+ points) As to the Grand Vin, cassis, candied violet, orange blossom, and a beautiful sense of minerality all emerge from the 2023 Château Ausone, a deep purple-hued beauty that's a classic 60/40 split of Cabernet Franc and Merlot aged 20 months in new barrels. It's medium to full-bodied, has a concentrated, layered mouthfeel, classy, perfectly integrated oak, and a great finish. It picks up this flinty, smoky minerality as it sits in the glass, and it has a liquid rock-like character that’s hard to describe. It's going to be pleasurable with just 4-6 years of bottle age but not hit maturity for a decade and will evolve gracefully over the following 20-30 years. Drink 2034-2063. - Jeb Dunnuck