(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.

Deeply colored, the wine is intensely floral, showcasing lilacs, roses, and violets. You also notice notes of espresso, licorice, black cherries, and raspberries, with a pronounced mineral essence. While the nose is impressive, the palate is even better. It is intense, rich, plush, and elegant, offering lift, purity, and refinement, all of which is enhanced by a strong oceanic influence felt through its layers of dark red, black, and blue fruits, espresso, and spice. The seamless finish lingers long after the wine leaves the glass. The wine blends 60% Cabernet Franc with 40% Merlot. Drink from 2030-2065. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/search-wine-tasting-notes/?szSearch=2023%20Ch%C3%A2teau%20Ausone

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

Richly fragranced on the nose, so full and heady almost. Ripe, perfumed, dried flowers. This has bounce and plushness, great concentration and sense of fullness in the mouth but with the most uplifting acidity that brightens the whole expression. A more fun Ausone dare I say it. Still with that charming perfume at the back and spiced notes creeping in on the finish but this is wildly enjoyable now. Sweet fruit makes the mouth water. A brilliant wine. (Drink between 2033-2050)

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.

(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

A blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot, the 2023 Château Ausone has turned out superbly, unfurling aromas of dark berries and cherries intertwined with spices, licorice, burning embers and a discreet touch of oak. Medium- to full-bodied, ample and velvety, it is suave and seamless, built around a dense core of fruit, framed by powdery, structuring tannins and concluding with a long, calcareous and precise finish. It will reward patience in the cellar.