The second wine, La Chapelle d'Ausone, is remarkable, and in 2009, one of the great second wines of Bordeaux. Dense purple in color, with lots of incense, crushed rock, blueberries, and floral notes, the wine is dense, opulent, medium to full-bodied, and very pure and impressive. It should drink well for 20 or more years. (Tasted once.) Two more brilliant wines from Alain Vauthier, but you might have to forgive me for not giving a potentially perfect score in 2009. Readers (and I) have been spoiled by my reviews of 2008, 2005, 2003, and 2000. Certainly, his 2009 may turn out to be as riveting, but at this stage, I would have to rate all those vintages just a notch or two higher.

Representing nearly half of the production, this estate’s second wine, the 2009 La Chapelle d’Ausone, is an extraordinary effort. Better than many of the grand vins made during the 1970s and 1980s, it is an equal part blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc revealing an inky/blue/purple color along with notes of incense, blueberries, raspberries and crushed rocks (which give the wine a distinctive minerality). Medium to full-bodied as well as exceptionally pure, broad and opulent, it should drink well for two decades or more.

Tasted at Chateau Ausone. A blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, the Chapelle d'Ausone has a ripe, well defined bouquet with just a little more warmth than usual, macerated black cherries, cassis, a touch of dried lemon peel, gaining definition all the time as it rests in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine but firm tannins, an enthralling sense of symmetry and focus here, the Cabernet Franc lending a little austerity to balance the ripe Merlot on the finish. Good length: as usual, this constitutes and over-performing Second wine. Tasted March 2010.

Bright ruby. Cool, complex aromas of cassis, licorice, Thai basil, fresh herbs, gingerbread and coconutty oak. Bright and firm, even a bit youthfully ungiving, but juicy and penetrating, with an exhilarating note of Asian spices. Very tight and firm on the long, vibrant back end. A second wine with a very strong personality of its own.

(70% merlot and 30% cabernet franc) Ruby-red. The apparent cabernet franc component gives lift to the aromas of redcurrant, white pepper, cocoa and violet. Juicy, pure and on the lean side but with a subtle sweetness and very good intensity to the red fruit and floral flavors. Turns fleshier on the persistent finish, with the sweet fruit nicely supported by ripe, high-quality tannins. Another outstanding and very stylish Chapelle; this is almost always one of the best second wines made in the Bordeaux region.

[70M/30CF] Very refined nose - soft, easy, gentle black cherry and mineral; beautifully balanced, rich middleweight with a very nice vitality and very fine, quite long term tannin; deliciously sweet fruit, long, graceful, complex, and refined, with excellent fragrant fruit persistence. A very fine second wine. 2018-30