The 2023 Ausone, a Bordeaux Blend from the Saint Emilion sub-region of Bordeaux, France, has garnered significant attention from wine critics. The blend consists of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot, matured for a planned 20 months in new oak barrels. The wine has a deep garnet-purple color and is sealed with a cork closure.
James Suckling awarded the 2023 Ausone an almost perfect score of 99 points, stating, "I don't think I have tasted an Ausone like this. The purity of fruit and fluidity is so primary, like perfectly picked grapes with their juice. Then there is citrus freshness. It's muscular, with toned tannins that caress the palate and give a seamless finish." Suckling emphasizes the potential of this vintage to redefine the character of Ausone, combining finesse with structure.
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, through reviewer Yohan Castaing, gave the wine a score of 97 points. Castaing notes, "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."
Vinous reviewer Neal Martin also praised the wine, scoring it 98 points, and describing it as having "a wonderful bouquet that is very floral in style and perfectly controlled." He further comments on the medium-bodied palate with "silky smooth entry, finely tuned with impressive mineralité."
Jane Anson, from janeanson.com, awarded it 97 points, highlighting its "density and well-cushioned fruit," and describing it as "another stunning vintage of a wine that somehow manages to make an effortless impression."
Jeff Leve from TheWineCellarInsider.com gave it a score range of 97-99 points, emphasizing the wine's "majestic sense of lift, purity, and refinement," and noting its "long, seamless finish."
The Wine Independent's Lisa Perrotti-Brown was most impressed, awarding a perfect score of 100 points. She described the wine as "very mute and reticent to show its personality," but with "wonderful tension" and "incredibly taut and tight-knit" structure.
Finally, Decanter scored it 96 points, acknowledging its "really ripe and fragrant black fruit," and noting it is "already approachable" with a "clean, direct, mineral backbone."
In summary, the 2023 Ausone is a highly praised Bordeaux blend, noted for its purity of fruit, floral bouquet, and refined structure. With scores ranging from 96 to 100 points, it is evident that this wine has made a strong impression on critics and is poised for long-term aging potential.
