2016 Château Ausone Chapelle d'Ausone

Chapelle d'Ausone 2016 is the second wine of the legendary Château Ausone, offering a more approachable expression of this iconic Saint‑Émilion terroir without sacrificing depth or finesse. Crafted from the same steep, limestone terraces and with the same meticulous care as the Grand Vin, it delivers a refined, ageworthy right‑bank Bordeaux at a comparatively accessible level. With roots that trace back to Roman times and the poet‑statesman Ausonius, this cuvée carries centuries of history in a beautifully polished, modern claret style.

Tasting Notes
In the glass, the 2016 Chapelle d'Ausone typically shows a deep garnet to purple hue, reflecting both concentration and youthfulness in this great Bordeaux vintage. The nose opens gradually with dark plum, black cherry and blueberry, followed by rose petals, violets, crushed stone and hints of clove, cedar and graphite from its élevage in fine French oak. On the palate, this is medium to medium‑full bodied, combining vibrant, fresh fruit with the creamy texture and precision that define Ausone. Ripe black and red berries are layered with notes of cocoa, baking spice and a subtle saline, chalky edge that speaks clearly of Saint‑Émilion’s limestone plateau. The tannins are satin‑smooth yet firmly structured, supported by lively acidity that keeps the wine lifted and focused through a long, perfumed finish. In a classic, structured year like 2016, Chapelle d’Ausone drinks well from a few years after release but has the capacity to evolve gracefully for 12–18 years from vintage, gaining complexity, truffle, tobacco and forest floor nuances with time in bottle.

Production
Chapelle d’Ausone is drawn from Château Ausone’s extraordinary 7‑hectare estate on the south‑east facing limestone slopes of the Saint‑Émilion plateau, one of Bordeaux’s most prized terroirs. The thin topsoil over pure, hard limestone, excellent natural drainage and optimal sun exposure contribute to grapes of great concentration, aromatic intensity and mineral precision. The vineyards are planted predominantly to Merlot and Cabernet Franc with a small proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon, and yields are kept very low. All grapes are harvested by hand in small crates, with strict sorting in the vineyard and at the chai to ensure only perfectly ripe, healthy fruit is used. Fermentation takes place in temperature‑controlled stainless steel and concrete vats, parcel by parcel, allowing each plot to express its character. After maceration and gentle extraction, the wine is aged for around 18–24 months in French oak barrels, a significant proportion of which are new, bringing refinement, polish and additional layers of complexity without overwhelming the purity of fruit or the limestone signature.

Food & Serving
Chapelle d’Ausone 2016 is a superb partner for refined dishes that echo its elegance and structure. Think classic roast lamb with herbs, tournedos of beef, veal chops with morel cream, duck breast, or game birds such as pigeon or partridge. It also pairs beautifully with truffle‑scented dishes, mushroom risotto, and hard or semi‑hard cheeses like aged Comté, Ossau‑Iraty and mature Gouda. Serve at 16–18°C (60–64°F) to highlight its freshness and aromatic complexity. In its youth, decanting for 1–2 hours helps the wine unfurl and soften the tannins; as it ages and gains bottle maturity, a shorter decant of about 30 minutes, primarily to remove any sediment, is usually sufficient.

Producer
Château Ausone is one of Bordeaux’s most storied and revered estates, holding the coveted Premier Grand Cru Classé A status in Saint‑Émilion and tracing its history back to Roman times. Named after the 4th‑century Roman poet and statesman Ausonius, who is believed to have owned vineyards on this very site, the château has been cultivated more or less continuously since the Middle Ages. Today, Ausone is celebrated for producing some of the most hauntingly elegant and long‑lived wines of the right bank, thanks to its tiny, steep vineyard on pure limestone and its meticulous, quality‑obsessed approach in both vineyard and cellar. Chapelle d’Ausone, the second wine, is crafted with the same care and philosophy as the Grand Vin, offering a more immediately accessible but still profoundly serious expression of this great terroir, and reinforcing Château Ausone’s standing as one of the benchmark producers of Saint‑Émilion and all of Bordeaux.

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