This Week's feature About Wine (From Winedoctor)

Chateau Ausone
What an absolute contrast to visit Ausone. After several days in Bordeaux, taking in the grandeur of Lafite, Latour, Cheval-Blanc, Margaux, La Mission Haut-Brion and many other famous estates, we came to what many consider to be St Emilion's preeminent vineyard, Ausone. Here, at the end of a steep ascent along a narrow and rather winding track just wide enough for one vehicle to pass was a small, rough car park. It was crammed with cars, and it was not until another band of happy tasters moved out that we were able to park. Alighting I immediately scanned the landscape looking for the vines. The most obvious were those growing five metres or more above me, crowning the stone doorway to Ausone's barrel cellar in a slightly surreal fashion, and increasing the slight feel of claustrophobia, of everything being crammed into too tight a space. This is not an estate with the spacious facilities of the left bank first growths; there are no green courtyards dotted with plane trees as at Latour, and no richly coloured reception rooms, dotted with portraiture as at Lafite. I sensed that Ausone was much more functional, and this feeling continued as we entered the long, narrow and crowded vatroom through the door at the far corner of the car park. It was time to taste the 2007 vintage with Alain Vauthier, Ausone's proprietor.
Mention of Vauthier's name immediately brings us to an examination of Ausone's history, because in recent decades it has certainly given us a tale worth telling, a tale in which Vauthier plays a central role. Nevertheless, the full history begins much earlier than this, perhaps two millennia ago. Ausone is one of the many Bordeaux estates that bear the names of key historical figures, names that help to bring the history of Bordeaux to life. Calon-Ségur and Phélan-Ségur are classic examples others, providing clues which when followed up lead us to Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur otherwise known as the Prince de Vignes, who held sway over a vast estate that took in much of the Médoc. Talbot is another example, although here it is unusual, as there is no direct evidence that Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury and leader of the English army at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, ever owned vines in the commune of St Julien. There are few truly ancient examples, however, save for perhaps Figeac, which is named after Figeacus who lived there in the 2nd Century. And of course Ausone, which is named for Ausonius.
Ancient Origins, Modern Disputes
Ausonius came after Figeacus, having been born in Bordeaux somewhere around AD 310. Early on in his life he established a school of rhetoric and grammar in Bordeaux, where he taught Paulinus, who later went on to be Bishop of Nola. Having established a credible academic reputation, Ausonius was summoned to Rome where he tutored Gratian, prior to his exalted position as Emperor of the Roman Empire. The teaching appointment was one that brought great rewards for Ausonois, as he eventually took a seat in the consulate. But with the passing of the years he returned to Bordeaux, where he continued writing, in particular penning many notable discourses on viticulture. He was well qualified to write on the subject, owning a good sized estate a proportion of which was planted to vines. It is for these works, as much as his poetry, that Ausonius is most appreciated today. Although Ausonius wrote of his vines reflected in the "yellowing Garonne", suggesting that his estate was nowhere near St Emilion, there is some circumstantial evidence to link the Ausonius of the 4th Century and the Chateau Ausone of the 21st Century. Ausonius purchased vineyards around Bordeaux - no doubt he accrued some wealth during his life - and so he may well have purchased land around St Emilion. In addition, the excavation of a Gallo-Roman villa on the Ausone estate lends some credence to the claim that this was once his home.
In more recent times, from the early 18th Century onwards, Ausone was in the possession of the Cantenat family. By 1808 it passed from Jean Cantenat to his son Pierre, and then to a nephew named Lafargue. During the Cantenat era the estate's reputation increased, as with each subsequent ranking of the St Emilion chateaux Ausone climbed a little higher up the list, outclassing rivals Canon, Belair and Troplong-Mondot. Lafargue bequeathed the estate to his niece, who was named Challon, and by her marriage the estate than came to Edouard Dubois. Dubois had already been managing the estate on behalf of his wife's family for some years, and he now had total control. The Dubois-Challon family went on to purchase neighbouring Belair in 1916, and they managed the two estates until Edouard's untimely death in 1921. Thereafter Ausone and Belair were cared for by his widow, and then his children, Jean and Cécile. The latter of these two siblings married into the Vauthier family, and they were blessed with children and then grandchildren. Jean, however, did not marry until much later in life, and his new wife was a woman much younger than himself named Heylette. This union bore no children, and so upon Jean's death in 1974 Cécile's descendents were anticipating inheriting his share of the vineyard. But it was not to be; Heylette was determined to hold onto her late husband's property, and she hired a winemaker, Pascal Delbeck, to help her.
Officially, therefore, Heylette Dubois-Challon and the Vauthier family owned Belair and Ausone jointly, although it was Delback who seems to have had the final say at Belair, whereas the predominant voice at Ausone was Cécile's grandson, Alain Vauthier. Nevertheless, it was not a smooth ride, and acrimony between the two interested parties was to eventually spoil this happy arrangement. There were disagreements about winemaking and harvesting, with even fine details such as date of harvest the subject of court proceedings as the two factions went to war. Unsurprisingly, there was no real investment in Ausone during this time, and with such a disharmonious of leadership dispute underway it follows that the quality of the wine, once great, was said to have suffered during this time.
Eventually Heylette Dubois-Challon tired of her estate and resolved to sell Ausone. Alain Vauthier insisted upon having first refusal, which led to another dispute which again brought the two families face-to-face in the courts, but finally Ausone was his. Heylette Dubois-Challon won the right to live on in the chateau, which she did until her death in 2003. Up until that moment she held onto Belair, which with her passing was effectively inherited by the trusted Pascal Delbeck. With sole control over this fabulous estate, however, Vauthier has been able to push it, vintage-by-vintage, back to a place where it is once again worthy of its position at the peak of the St Emilion classification. To understand how he has achieved this, an inspection of the Ausone vineyard, and the viticultural practices involved, is warranted.
The Ausone Vineyard
The vineyards of St Emilion are divided into four main terroirs. To the far west, abutting Pomerol, is the Graves-St-Emilion, where Cheval-Blanc and Figeac are located on the Gunzian graves de feu. The second terroir is sand, and there are two principal regions; travelling east towards the town of St Emilion there are 1200 hectares, and along the banks of the Dordogne another 2000 hectares. Neither region is home to any of the highest ranked estates, as these are concentrated in the fourth region, the limestone côtes around St Emilion itself. Here is where we find the vineyards of Ausone, just below the carpark, a mere 7 hectares of vines mostly positioned in a suntrap (pictured right), an amphitheatre of vines protected from frost. There are also a few up above the barrel cellar, as I spotted when I stepped out of our car. Underfoot, there is some clay as well as limestone, but the latter predominates, particularly when one digs down to the subsoil. The vineyard can be micro-managed thanks to its small size, perhaps not quite treating each vine individually, but they certainly receive a lot of attention; there is bunch-thinning as well as leaf-thinning to ensure ventilation and ripening, and there is harvesting in tries, with several passes through the vineyard selecting only the ripest fruit. The quality is such that since the 2000 vintage Vauthier has been able to completely eschew chaptalisation once the wine is in vat.
The vines have a good age, nearing half a century on average, and are half Cabernet Franc and half Merlot, planted at a density of 6500 vines/ha. After the selective harvest described above, the fermentation is carried out in wood, with temperature regulation, and I was able to inspect some of the newest vats during my visit in 2008; how on earth they managed to transport the huge vessels to the vat room, at the top of that winding lane, was a mystery to me. Once finished with alcoholic fermentation the wine then undergoes malolactic in barrel, where it stays for up to 24 months. Before bottling it will be fined using egg whites, but it is not filtered. The very best barrels will go into Chateau Ausone, the grand vin, but some will be deselected for the estate's second wine, Chapelle d'Ausone. Overall the production is a little over 2000 cases, and limited quantities with supreme quality are two obvious features that have pushed Ausone prices into the stratosphere, putting the left bank first growths to shame.
I left the tasting at Ausone somewhat in awe of the wine. Although 2007 was a very difficult vintage for Bordeaux the red wines of the right bank at the very top end eclipse many from the left bank; I would tip Ausone as the wine of the vintage I think. Here was something very special indeed, a wine that did not need to be viewed kindly, to be considered good in the context of the vintage. For sure, it is probably not a great Ausone, and I am sure that other recent vintages have shown greater success, but that should not detract from what has been achieved in the vintage I tasted. My only concern is that, as Ausone is currently in third place, after Petrus and Le Pin, in the bid for the title of most expensive wine in Bordeaux, will this be my one and only, last ever chance to taste? I hope not. (29/7/08)
Contact details:Address: 33330 St EmilionTelephone: +33 (0) 5 57 24 24 57Fax +33 (0) 5 57 24 24 58Internet: http://www.chateau-ausone-saint-emilion.com/
Chateau Ausone - Tasting Notes
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2007
Chateau Ausone 2007: There is a lovely presence of exotic spices on the nose here, an intense character, and some nutty oak. The palate starts off quite lovely, with a svelte, well-knit composition. There is sappy fruit over a somewhat silky texture, with just a little firmness in the midpalate. It maintains a broad and constant presence through the midpalate and has a fine, fading, elegant finish. Overall this appears to be really delicious, a superbly harmonious effort which has overperformed in a lesser vintage. Excellent potential. From my 2007 Bordeaux en primeur assessment. 17-18+/20 (April 2008)
La Chapelle d'Ausone 2007: This is the second wine of Ausone, and is produced from a selection made in the vineyard. There is a beautiful purity of fruit, which has a summer fruit character, particularly cherry. A lovely structure, gently persuasive, a little creamy, with a svelte presence on the palate. Underneath it has some appealing grip. For a second wine in a lesser vintage, really rather good. From my 2007 Bordeaux en primeur assessment. 15.5-16.5+/20 (April 2008)