2006 Ausone

One of the handful of candidates for wine of the vintage is the 2006 Ausone. In fact, while tasting it, I was thinking, is there any estate in Bordeaux that, since 1998, has made as many legendary wines as proprietor Alain Vauthier has at his beloved Ausone? Boasting an inky/blue/purple color as well as an extraordinary, precise bouquet of minerals, flowers, blueberry liqueur, and black currants, this wine possesses fabulous fruit and great intensity, but what makes it so special is its precision, focus, and almost ethereal lightness despite substantial flavor intensity and depth. It is a ballerina with density and power. The abundant noticeable tannin is sweet and, not surprisingly, very finely grained. It should be cellared for a decade, and consumed over the following half century.
98 points – Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #181, Feb 2009)

Tasted at Bordeaux Index's annual 10-Year On tasting in London.The 2006 Château Ausone has a fragrant bouquet compared to the 2006 Pavie, fomenting more secondary aromas such as smoke, cigar box, potpourri and a smear of Seville orange marmalade. The palate is very refined on the entry, rounded and supple in the mouth. It clearly does not have the density and weight of the Pavie, but it exerts an insistent grip in the mouth and the tannins have symmetry on the finish. It is a very fine Ausone, although Alain Vauthier has overseen better vintages in recent years. Tasted January 2016. Drink 2018-2035.
– eRobertParker.com #interim, May 2016

Cedar, new wood and crushed blackberry and raspberry aromas follow through to a palate of vanilla, berry and blackberry character. Balanced and modern, with lots of fruit. Lively, with bright acidity. Best after 2014.
– JS (WineSpectator.com, March 2009)

Bright medium ruby. Brooding, pure aromas of blackberry, blueberry, boysenberry, espresso and minerals. Wonderfully dense yet weightless, with a penetrating calcaire energy to its sappy black fruit and mineral flavors. This has filled out impressively since its early days in barrel but is still just at the beginning of its evolution. The slowly mounting, compellingly long finish saturates the palate with flavor, and the substantial tannins are amazingly sweet and fine-grained. My early candidate for wine of the vintage: this fills the mouth with perfume but its fruit of steel suggests that it will last a very long time. I won't be around to drink this beauty at its peak.
97 points – vinous.com, May 2009

Much darker crimson/purple. Thick and dark, still a little rude – black fruits and berries, thick and very dense and very round and sweet at first. Pretty tough tannins but wonderfully sophisticated delicacy. Hint of greenness, rises up, dances, but not the most astonishing. Dry but very clean finish, Velvety start. Lively but a little bit skinny. More structure than the Chapelle.
17.5++/20 – JancisRobinson.com, Aug 2007