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."
"A high-definition wine. Wow. The aromas are incredible, with roses, strawberries and crushed stones. So perfumed. It’s the magic of perfectly ripe cabernet franc. Medium-bodied with ultra-fine tannins and a firm and silky finish. Sublime length and mouthfeel. Cool, subtle, sophisticated and stunning. So much definition. 13.7% alcohol. A blend of 65% cabernet franc, 30% merlot and 5% cabernet sauvignon."
"There's no Chapelle d'Ausone this year. This is utterly devine, though it takes a little moment to let you in – you need to come to it at first. Subtly floral, but not so much the demonstrative blooms of violet as the subtler notes of rose petal, rose water perhaps and fresh field spring flowers. In fact, as it builds and breathes, we do find more iris and violet but these are not the first floral shades to reveal themselves. Black cherry, but again subtly, wild blueberry and mulberry. A little touch of soft leather and graphite. This is staggeringly beautiful – hauntingly so – on the entry (attack would be too agreessive a word). It's incredibly soft, succulent, seductive in its way, but never opulent or ostentatious, just divinely beautiful, poised, harmonious and supremely elegant. Ausone is perhaps the most essentially harmonious wine of the vintage. It signs off with an incredible taper on the finish, leaving just a gentle touch of limestone tannin and grapeskin."
"A blend of 65% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2025 Château Ausone unwinds in the glass with notes of sweet raspberries and mulberries mingled with notions of mint, rose petals and blood orange. Medium- to full-bodied, lively and perfumed, with lovely energy, exquisitely refined tannins and a bright, precise finish, it shows extraordinary potential. Some discreet changes are underway at this address, with picking (between September 2 and 23) broken up plot by plot to a greater degree; a review of the estate's cooperage choices in pursuit of better integration; and, at least this year, no second wine for the first time since 1994—given the quality of Ausone's terroir and vine material, that seems entirely reasonable. The result is one of the most refined, classy Ausone vintages in recent years, and it will be exciting to follow these evolutions over the years to come."
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.
OUR GROWERS
Château Ausone
