Ausone 1982

A pleasant surprise when I think of what proprietor Alain Vauthier has done over the last decade, the outstanding 1982 Ausone exhibits plenty of licorice, fruitcake, mineral, kirsch, and black fruit characteristics. Medium-bodied and elegant with a touch of austerity at the finish, it should be consumed over the next 10 years.

Amber at the edge is evident in this dark garnet-colored wine. Sweet noter of weedy tobacco intermixed with red currant jam, spice box, and cedar jump from the glass of this relatively perfumed vintage for Ausone. The attack is sweet, with surprising glycerin and ripeness, but then the finish narrows out with plenty of tannin, hardness, and structure. The wine seems to have come out if its dormant stage, but where it's going is anyone's guess. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2030. Last tasted, 12/02.

Medium ruby-coloured, with a pronounced smoky, herb-tinged bouquet revealing aromas of black tea, minerals, and sweet fruit, this medium-bodied 1982 exhibits a striking liquid minerality, decent acidity, and a powerful, concentrated, long finish. The 1982 Ausone is just turning the corner and beginning to reveal considerable complexity as well as finesse. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2040.

At last this wine is beginning to warrant the lavish praise and high score I gave it from cask, when it was one of the most extraordinary young wines I had ever tasted. Its dormant stage has lasted for over a decade. When I last tasted it, the wine was taking on that provocative Ausone bouquet of minerals, spices, earth, and red and black fruits. Enormously consitituted, with massive quantities of both extract and tannin, this powerful, still backward wine should prove to be one of the greatest Ausones made in the post-World War II Era. It remains 5-10 years away from maturity. Although the exotic sweetness and lavish richness of the 1982 vintage is becoming more noticeable, readers should not touch a bottle before the turn of the century. It may turn out to be a 50-year wine. Last tasted, 9/95.