Decanted 1 hour before serving. Deep ruby color with mild bricking. Tobacco and a woodsy cologne aroma, along with some soy sauce eventually appearing on the nose. Medium body, medium-plus acid, medium-plus grippy tannins. Remarkably primary even after the decant. Dark fruit, earthy slate flavors, tightly wound, some elegant savory notes mid-palate. Gained more depth with air, but still lacking anything distinctive from other similarly aged Bordeaux. A disappointment.
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Dusty dark fruit, banana oil and earth on the nose. Really sweet and beautiful from hour 1-3. Faded a bit afterwards. Smooth and slightly compact on the palate. Still very alive. Lovely.
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(Blind tasting) Full, very deep and dense nose. Classic Bdx. Cigar, gravel, cool black fruit. Smoke. Complex. Medium-fullish, fullish palate. Very smoky. Bell pepper (Cab Franc) and ripe black fruit. Properly austere. Very good intensity and elegance. Aromatic style. But sligthly rough tannins. Lacking a bit in structure and concentration for even higher marks. We guessed on a right bank wine, with high proportion of Cabernet Franc. Really elegant style, but probably need a bit more stuffing for competing with the greatest.
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Château Ausone's 1995 comes alive after a brief tour in the decanter with a pretty bouquet of red currant, plum, chocolate, and sandalwood. Resolving but still slightly firm tannins frame red fruit and earth flavors. Very good and in its peak drinking window now. Here again is one more sample toward favoring the right bank over the left this vintage.
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Took this from a friend’s cellar to try as I couldn’t bend down to see where she had hid the good stuff.
Was expecting magic but literally was given a brick in a glass. I was quite surprised at it was a '95 so should be showing well. Extremely monolithic and dense. Too tight and left 3/4 off the bottle on the table behind a rather good bottle of 1970 Cheval Blanc.
I suspect the Ausone was stored too well in the cellar.
I will have to revisit it in 10 years and see if she has any more lying around.
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Light delicate wine, floral bouquet with red berry juice aroma, on the palate, medium density wine, not heavy, not tannic but still lingers on. All the elements there and complex wine, however, the main thing about this wine, is sip sip sip, it is delicate and nice. Thought evoking wine.
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The 1995 Ausone really isn't holding anything back here, at least from half. No sooner is the cork pulled than the wine seems ready to go with a medium-plus intensity nose of redcurrant, milk chocolate, clove, mineral, and sandalwood. Really interesting aromatic profile; polished with good, if not profound, depth. The tannins are extraordinarily supple. I can't recall another top 95 whose tannins have melted away as they've done here. Decanted and followed for over 4.5 hours, this is best at its intense debut.
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1995 Bordeaux (Beautiful Solvang, CA): Slow-ox'ed for four hours then decanted for three. I can't say this wine budged much. The nose was enticing, a complex mélange of floral, earthy and black fruit notes. Medium bodied and drinking in fine balance, but not a very generous showing. Eventually, some black cherry notes emerged along with a dominant green aspect (tomato vines?) and some tobacco. Very firm tannins. Honestly, this needed a 24-hour decant (or at least a decade more, or both).
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Time has been nice to this wine. While there is a firmness to the tannins, with age, this full bodied, concentrated, fresh, berry and stone filled wine has filled out and softened considerably. That being said, another decade of age would help even more.
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2 hrs of bt decant, color is deep garnet. Tobacco, currant and hint of cedar. Tannin soften after the breathing, but still a little grippy, but the whiff of bitterness has subsided. Quite fruit forward and concentrated but alcohol level remainded high. Needs time in cellar.
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Quite nice, with air. Mineral driven, plum, earth, tobacco and spicy red and black fruits were in abundance. Other bottles have felt softer. A little more air would have probably made a difference. There was depth, flavor and character, but this specific bottle was not quite as good as the previous bottle I last tasted. Once again, there are only great bottles, not great wines after 15 years of age.
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Bordeaux 1995 tasting. Shining less than most of the other wines tasted (all 1er cru + Cheval Blanc); at the bottom together with Mouton, but still nice, however somewhat neutral
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Deep red in color, nose of tobacco jump out of the glass followed by a puff of smokiness and dark fruit aroma. Sweetness followed by an acid edge which faded in glass aftervaufficient airing. Medium fruit but tannin is grippy and slightly dry, some leathery aroma on follow through. Needs 2 hrs of decant but seems still pale in comparison to 95 Cheval Blanc.
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°°° Bordeaux 1995 °°°: Dark in color. Nose shows a plentitude of smells...leather, coffee, Coke, red berries, herbs....quite exotic and the nose is for me 100/100. This is a highly elegant, well structured yet long and powerful wine. Multifaceted and keeps on developing for minutes. I true stunner at the moment but with plenty of potential for the next 15-20 years. WOW
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flight of 4 vintage, 95 96 97 98: 98 clearly not yet entering drinking window and best kept in the cellar, 97 peaked but very elegant and a very nice wine to sip, 95 96 are both good and hard to say which one I liked better, however, only had about 100ml for each and hard to judge. I liked 95 best.
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Chez Bruce dinner, 1st Growths Saint Emilion. Sweet ripe fruits on the nose with hints of graphite, still quite tight and opening up very slowly over the course of the evening. This requires pateince and more time, though quite beguiling now with finese and elegance.
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Opened and left without cork for 10 hours before serving. Dark, rich, coffee notes, ripe, supple but focused. Fresh mouthfeel but rich, ripe finish. Not ready yet. Open but still grippy back end.
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St Emillion First Growths (Chez Bruce, London): Deep ruby. Relatively subdued dark fruit on the nose. Obviously younger than its peers. It has the slightly dry 95 tannin character, though this does seem to meld with air. Very attractive in parts but I'm not entirely convinced. Does it have the fruit, long-term, for the tannic frame? ***(*)
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Surprisingly over the hill with a brown color throughout. The bouquet and flavor consisted solely of tobacco, with some roughness to it. Fair balance but with no finesse or depth.
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The first vintage with Alain Vauthier fully in charge offers aromatics of crushed stone, black raspberry, smoke, cherry, tobacco, floral elements and hints of leafy herbs. The palate straddles the fence between the firmness of the vintage and softer, rounder textures. Young, but offering secondary characteristics, drink now, or wait a decade for more flesh to develop.
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Dégustation d'un Pétrus: Un nez subtil, d'encens, un peu de vanille et de sucre brun. La bouche est d'une magnifique rondeur, c'est moderne et très élégant, suave, grande classe. Un style très charmeur, superbement tissé, avec du fruit noir sucré. Je crois à Ausone. Un magnifique vin. Pas mon style de prédilection à Bordeaux, mais je m incline bien bas devant la qualité. 95 pts
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Athens Wine Event; 4/7/2012-4/8/2012 (Athens, Greece): Blind tasted. Simply stunning. The colour shows a bit of age and so does the nose which has lots of earthy elements ( reminded us of a 90s pauillac to be honest), light floral notes and good fruit. Elever so balanced and elegant this is a superb wine. And we had it blindtasted so no star gazing here. We can only complain about a bit of a light mid palate but away fromt heat this is a superb wine and is now at or close to its peak. 97
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Excellent, marvelous... There are very few wines that can even come close to Ausone. This 1995 kept on evolving in the glass and was full bodied, powerfull and is close to perfection.
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This Chateau Ausone was consistent for a St Emillion bordoux. Quality wine and this 1995 was ready for drinking. The color was on the brownish side. The palate started thin and was strong on the oak side but then it transitioned into a good quality Bordeaux. The palate length was medium. Tannins hit nicely and smooth on the mid palate and into the finish transition. Raspberry on the transition that accompany the oak. Little earthy with hints of leather, herbal, plum and just a little tart. Little bit of mineral. Aged well. This was a nice experience but I was not blown away.
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1995 Bordeaux Showdown (Azuma): Chocolate, cedar, blackberry, minerals and cassis aromas. Rich, deep fruit on the palate. Great balance and the components seem well integrated even at this early stage. Has the structure and depth to improve for the next 15+ years at least.
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1/22/2024 - Malarky997 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Head-to-head against a ‘95 Haut Brion. Decanted for 3 hours. Nose was a bit closed. Decent finish. Plum?
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12/25/2022 - timothynbond Likes this wine: 88 Points
Decanted 1 hour before serving. Deep ruby color with mild bricking. Tobacco and a woodsy cologne aroma, along with some soy sauce eventually appearing on the nose. Medium body, medium-plus acid, medium-plus grippy tannins. Remarkably primary even after the decant. Dark fruit, earthy slate flavors, tightly wound, some elegant savory notes mid-palate. Gained more depth with air, but still lacking anything distinctive from other similarly aged Bordeaux. A disappointment.
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11/26/2021 - johnh1001 wrote: 93 Points
Dusty dark fruit, banana oil and earth on the nose. Really sweet and beautiful from hour 1-3. Faded a bit afterwards. Smooth and slightly compact on the palate. Still very alive. Lovely.
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10/29/2021 - Argrath wrote: 95 Points
(Blind tasting)
Full, very deep and dense nose. Classic Bdx. Cigar, gravel, cool black fruit. Smoke. Complex.
Medium-fullish, fullish palate. Very smoky. Bell pepper (Cab Franc) and ripe black fruit. Properly austere. Very good intensity and elegance. Aromatic style. But sligthly rough tannins. Lacking a bit in structure and concentration for even higher marks.
We guessed on a right bank wine, with high proportion of Cabernet Franc. Really elegant style, but probably need a bit more stuffing for competing with the greatest.
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9/19/2020 - rlove wrote: 93 Points
Château Ausone's 1995 comes alive after a brief tour in the decanter with a pretty bouquet of red currant, plum, chocolate, and sandalwood. Resolving but still slightly firm tannins frame red fruit and earth flavors. Very good and in its peak drinking window now. Here again is one more sample toward favoring the right bank over the left this vintage.
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6/20/2020 - Sean_005 wrote: 90 Points
Took this from a friend’s cellar to try as I couldn’t bend down to see where she had hid the good stuff.
Was expecting magic but literally was given a brick in a glass. I was quite surprised at it was a '95 so should be showing well.
Extremely monolithic and dense. Too tight and left 3/4 off the bottle on the table behind a rather good bottle of 1970 Cheval Blanc.
I suspect the Ausone was stored too well in the cellar.
I will have to revisit it in 10 years and see if she has any more lying around.
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2/15/2020 - dannyg Likes this wine: 98 Points
Light delicate wine, floral bouquet with red berry juice aroma, on the palate, medium density wine, not heavy, not tannic but still lingers on. All the elements there and complex wine, however, the main thing about this wine, is sip sip sip, it is delicate and nice. Thought evoking wine.
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11/9/2019 - steinersing wrote: 96 Points
A fine wine, quite open and showy.
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8/2/2019 - englishman's claret wrote: 94 Points
The 1995 Ausone really isn't holding anything back here, at least from half. No sooner is the cork pulled than the wine seems ready to go with a medium-plus intensity nose of redcurrant, milk chocolate, clove, mineral, and sandalwood. Really interesting aromatic profile; polished with good, if not profound, depth. The tannins are extraordinarily supple. I can't recall another top 95 whose tannins have melted away as they've done here. Decanted and followed for over 4.5 hours, this is best at its intense debut.
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6/7/2019 - sburtt wrote: 91 Points
good but not great
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3/25/2019 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 92 Points
1995 Bordeaux (Beautiful Solvang, CA): Slow-ox'ed for four hours then decanted for three. I can't say this wine budged much. The nose was enticing, a complex mélange of floral, earthy and black fruit notes. Medium bodied and drinking in fine balance, but not a very generous showing. Eventually, some black cherry notes emerged along with a dominant green aspect (tomato vines?) and some tobacco. Very firm tannins. Honestly, this needed a 24-hour decant (or at least a decade more, or both).
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3/6/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 94 Points
Time has been nice to this wine. While there is a firmness to the tannins, with age, this full bodied, concentrated, fresh, berry and stone filled wine has filled out and softened considerably. That being said, another decade of age would help even more.
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4/3/2016 - conviction buy wrote: 92 Points
2 hrs of bt decant, color is deep garnet. Tobacco, currant and hint of cedar. Tannin soften after the breathing, but still a little grippy, but the whiff of bitterness has subsided. Quite fruit forward and concentrated but alcohol level remainded high. Needs time in cellar.
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1/12/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote: 93 Points
Quite nice, with air. Mineral driven, plum, earth, tobacco and spicy red and black fruits were in abundance. Other bottles have felt softer. A little more air would have probably made a difference. There was depth, flavor and character, but this specific bottle was not quite as good as the previous bottle I last tasted. Once again, there are only great bottles, not great wines after 15 years of age.
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10/28/2015 - Miceri Likes this wine: 93 Points
Bordeaux 1995 tasting. Shining less than most of the other wines tasted (all 1er cru + Cheval Blanc); at the bottom together with Mouton, but still nice, however somewhat neutral
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10/15/2015 - conviction buy wrote: 91 Points
Deep red in color, nose of tobacco jump out of the glass followed by a puff of smokiness and dark fruit aroma. Sweetness followed by an acid edge which faded in glass aftervaufficient airing. Medium fruit but tannin is grippy and slightly dry, some leathery aroma on follow through. Needs 2 hrs of decant but seems still pale in comparison to 95 Cheval Blanc.
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8/23/2015 - Wine_lvr Likes this wine: 97 Points
°°° Bordeaux 1995 °°°: Dark in color. Nose shows a plentitude of smells...leather, coffee, Coke, red berries, herbs....quite exotic and the nose is for me 100/100. This is a highly elegant, well structured yet long and powerful wine. Multifaceted and keeps on developing for minutes. I true stunner at the moment but with plenty of potential for the next 15-20 years. WOW
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8/9/2015 - tbuysse wrote: 98 Points
Consistent note compared with last bottle. Stands out of the 1995 Big 8 Bordeaux flight. You can almost taste the Ausone gravel soil. Marvelous
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2/8/2015 - danielk168 wrote: 93 Points
flight of 4 vintage, 95 96 97 98: 98 clearly not yet entering drinking window and best kept in the cellar, 97 peaked but very elegant and a very nice wine to sip, 95 96 are both good and hard to say which one I liked better, however, only had about 100ml for each and hard to judge. I liked 95 best.
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1/14/2015 - MEKWINE Likes this wine: 92 Points
Chez Bruce dinner, 1st Growths Saint Emilion. Sweet ripe fruits on the nose with hints of graphite, still quite tight and opening up very slowly over the course of the evening. This requires pateince and more time, though quite beguiling now with finese and elegance.
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1/14/2015 - DAN BAILEY Likes this wine:
Opened and left without cork for 10 hours before serving. Dark, rich, coffee notes, ripe, supple but focused. Fresh mouthfeel but rich, ripe finish. Not ready yet. Open but still grippy back end.
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1/14/2015 - SimonG wrote: 91 Points
St Emillion First Growths (Chez Bruce, London): Deep ruby. Relatively subdued dark fruit on the nose. Obviously younger than its peers. It has the slightly dry 95 tannin character, though this does seem to meld with air. Very attractive in parts but I'm not entirely convinced. Does it have the fruit, long-term, for the tannic frame? ***(*)
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11/18/2014 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
Ausone dinner
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10/5/2014 - tcosgriff wrote: 84 Points
Surprisingly over the hill with a brown color throughout. The bouquet and flavor consisted solely of tobacco, with some roughness to it. Fair balance but with no finesse or depth.
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6/25/2014 - Double-A Likes this wine: 95 Points
Beautiful, elegant and maturing.
'Left Bank vs Right Bank' tasting. Poor planning... I was presenting and I neglected to take detailed notes on the tasting for my own records.
Palmer 1990
Mouton 2002
Latour 1999
Ausone 1995
Cheval Blanc 1995
Petrus 1999
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5/24/2014 - Jeff Leve wrote: 93 Points
The first vintage with Alain Vauthier fully in charge offers aromatics of crushed stone, black raspberry, smoke, cherry, tobacco, floral elements and hints of leafy herbs. The palate straddles the fence between the firmness of the vintage and softer, rounder textures. Young, but offering secondary characteristics, drink now, or wait a decade for more flesh to develop.
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7/8/2013 - d'Artagnan Likes this wine: 95 Points
Dégustation d'un Pétrus: Un nez subtil, d'encens, un peu de vanille et de sucre brun.
La bouche est d'une magnifique rondeur, c'est moderne et très élégant, suave, grande classe. Un style très charmeur, superbement tissé, avec du fruit noir sucré. Je crois à Ausone. Un magnifique vin. Pas mon style de prédilection à Bordeaux, mais je m incline bien bas devant la qualité. 95 pts
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4/8/2012 - Papies wrote: 97 Points
Athens Wine Event; 4/7/2012-4/8/2012 (Athens, Greece): Blind tasted.
Simply stunning. The colour shows a bit of age and so does the nose which has lots of earthy elements ( reminded us of a 90s pauillac to be honest), light floral notes and good fruit. Elever so balanced and elegant this is a superb wine. And we had it blindtasted so no star gazing here. We can only complain about a bit of a light mid palate but away fromt heat this is a superb wine and is now at or close to its peak. 97
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1/23/2011 - tbuysse wrote: 98 Points
Excellent, marvelous... There are very few wines that can even come close to Ausone. This 1995 kept on evolving in the glass and was full bodied, powerfull and is close to perfection.
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9/4/2009 - yotaiwan wrote: 89 Points
not very dense, smooth and clean, but without distinction. maybe too young?
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12/6/2008 - bjohnson350 wrote: 90 Points
This Chateau Ausone was consistent for a St Emillion bordoux. Quality wine and this 1995 was ready for drinking. The color was on the brownish side. The palate started thin and was strong on the oak side but then it transitioned into a good quality Bordeaux. The palate length was medium. Tannins hit nicely and smooth on the mid palate and into the finish transition. Raspberry on the transition that accompany the oak. Little earthy with hints of leather, herbal, plum and just a little tart. Little bit of mineral. Aged well. This was a nice experience but I was not blown away.
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7/4/2008 - sosgoodjhu wrote: 93 Points
showing well. more minerality than fruit coming thru. supple tannin.
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6/4/2008 - CamWheeler wrote: 93 Points
1995 Bordeaux Showdown (Azuma): Chocolate, cedar, blackberry, minerals and cassis aromas. Rich, deep fruit on the palate. Great balance and the components seem well integrated even at this early stage. Has the structure and depth to improve for the next 15+ years at least.
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