The estate is located in the Saint-Émilion area, high on a terrace overlooking the Dordogne valley. Nearby are the remains of a large Roman villa. This may have been the residence of the Bordeaux-born Roman poet Ausonius (310-395), who is also said to have owned vineyards here. The dome-like wine cellar carved into the rock is famous. The estate was owned by two families, Vauthier and Dubois-Challon, for 250 years. After a long dispute, Alain Vauthier bought the shares from Madame Dubois-Challon in 1996 and is now the sole owner. In 1997, Alain Vauthier separated from Pascal Delbeck and hired the well-known French oenologist Michel Rolland (*1947) as a consultant. He is now responsible for the vinification of the wines himself. The estate (and thus the wines) has been rated the highest "Premier Grand Cru Classé A" in all previous Saint-Émilion classifications.
The vineyards cover 7.3 hectares of vines on a shallow layer of light, chalky clay soil over permeable limestone. They are planted with 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc. The colourful and extremely long-lived red wine is aged for 16 to 22 months, principally in 100% new barriques. The barrels are decanted every three months to remove the sediment. Fining with egg white is carried out, but mostly no filtration. The wine needs a long time to develop. It is also called "Château Pétrus des Saint-Émilion" and is one of the most expensive wines in the world. Particularly outstanding vintages are 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1990 and 1998. A bottle of the 1849 vintage was tasted by a prominent group at a pre-phylloxera event organised by the well-known wine collector Hardy Rodenstock (1941-2018) in 1995. The wine, which was 146 years old at the time, tasted like an old port and was judged excellent. Only about 2,500 cases of wine are produced annually. The second wine is called "Chapelle d'Ausone".
Image rights: Château Ausone
