Decanter 94 pts, Vinous 93 pts, Wine Advocate 92 pts

La Chapelle d’Ausone is the second wine of Château Ausone, the Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé A estate whose combination of limestone plateau terroir, ancient vine age and meticulous winemaking under Pauline Vauthier has produced some of the finest right-bank wines of the modern era, including multiple 100-point scores from Wine Advocate, Vinous and James Suckling across the 2015, 2016 and 2019 Grand Vins. As a second wine from this extraordinary estate, Chapelle d’Ausone carries the same viticultural philosophy and winemaking precision as the Grand Vin, differing only in the specific lot selection that reserves the most exceptional material for the first label. The 2020 Bordeaux vintage was outstanding for Saint-Émilion’s limestone plateau estates, where the combination of warm growing conditions and the natural drainage and temperature moderation of the ancient limestone subsoil produced Merlot and Cabernet Franc of exceptional concentration and aromatic richness.

A second wine from Château Ausone benefits from the estate’s extraordinary terroir position on the steepest and most precisely limestone-dominant slopes above the Saint-Émilion village, and from the same winemaking team whose handling of the Grand Vin has produced some of the most critically celebrated wines in the history of this appellation. The 2020 Chapelle d’Ausone will reflect the outstanding vintage’s character filtered through the estate’s second-selection criteria: a wine of significant quality and genuine Ausone house character in a format designed for earlier accessibility than the Grand Vin demands from a great vintage.

La Chapelle d’Ausone from the 2020 vintage represents one of the most compelling second-wine value propositions in the Saint-Émilion appellation: the quality, philosophy and terroir authority of one of the appellation’s two Premier Grand Cru Classé A estates in an accessible format from an exceptional vintage, at a price that reflects the wine’s second-label positioning rather than the legend of its parent.

Deep ruby with a refined and mineral nose of dark cherry, ripe plum, cedar, dried herbs, tobacco, graphite and the distinctive limestone mineral character of the Ausone plateau terroir. Full-bodied with silky, well-integrated tannins, excellent natural acidity and a long, pure, mineral finish of genuine Saint-Émilion authority. Best from 2026 through 2042.