Bordeaux 2014 Primeurs: Château Ausone
Why kick off with Château Ausone? Simple; it is the killer wine in this appellation. The most striking feature of the Vauthier portfolio was that, across the board, the wines showed fabulous purity. They are perfumed and gently composed wines which, although largely they are not rich in structure, work well within the context of the vintage. Looking at the lower levels in the portfolio these wines are of course mostly based on Merlot, which only makes this achievement all the more remarkable. The weakness of the vintage for Merlot is transmitted in the bodies and textures of these various wines though, the focus being on delicacy and finesse rather than real substance (I present my notes on these wines in my grand cru classé and grand cru report, by the way). This all changes, however, when you get to Château Ausone. Never before do I recall such dramatic steps up from the Merlot-dominated cuvées such as Château Moulin-Saint-Georges and the newly acquired Château La Clotte (purchased in September 2014) to those which feature Cabernet, namely Chapelle d’Ausone (which is 60% Cabernet Franc) and Château Ausone itself (which is 40% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon).
Alain Vauthier (pictured) began the harvest on the 7-hectare Ausone vineyard with the Merlots on October 4th, ending on the 8th, followed immediately by Cabernet Franc between October 9th and the 11th, before finishing up with one day of picking Cabernet Sauvignon on October 15th. The most striking feature for me of these dates is the late start for the Merlot, as many on the left bank were picking this variety in mid- or late-September. Here, however, we were several days into October before the harvest was even underway, so these Merlots had the best ripening opportunity possible. Of course, with the wet and cool weather as described on the preceding page, it may well be that they really needed it.
