Chateau Ausone 1990

Long-time readers of this publication know that I believe Ausone is the most intellectually challenging wine made in Bordeaux. The wine often tastes as if it needs 40-50 years to shed some of its astringency and closed style.

The 1990 is not a charming, precocious wine. It is closed, but the color is a dense, dark ruby with no amber or orange at the edge. The fruit is sweeter, and the wine is more muscular, richer, and broader in the mouth, without losing Ausone's tell-tale minerality, spice, and curranty fruit. There is a good inner-core of sweet fruit in this medium to full-bodied wine that needs another 15-20 years of cellaring. Can the 1990 possibly rival the 1983 or 1982? Perhaps ... but don't bet on it. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2030.