Famille Vauthier

Vibrant and deeply coloured. Juicy and fresh on the nose with crisp acidity and aromas of prunes and damsons. The palate has flavours of red fruit with pretty notes of spice. A good richness and fine soft structure.

This little Saint Emilion cru made by the Vauthier family with 80% Merlot grapes is very pretty and expressive this year. It is an easy drinking wine with attractive red fruit character. Notes of red cherry and plums on the palate, good crunchy acidity, quite firm tannins. This is a very easy wine to like.

Vibrant and deeply coloured. Juicy and fresh on the nose with crisp acidity and aromas of prunes and damsons. The palate has flavours of red fruit with pretty notes of spice. A good richness and fine soft structure.

This little Saint Emilion cru made by the Vauthier family with 80% Merlot grapes is very pretty and expressive this year. It is an easy drinking wine with attractive red fruit character. Notes of red cherry and plums on the palate, good crunchy acidity, quite firm tannins. This is a very easy wine to like.

For years, I sold this wine in the U.S. where it was a huge success, Alain Vauthier (owner of Ausone) has made some cases available exclusively for us in Belgium. Very well located on the sunny southern slopes of the Saint Emilion plateau, it is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The wine is fresh and well balanced with supple texture, lots of pretty red fruit and a good vein of acidity.

What a great performer this wine is! Produced by the Vauthier family and lying on the opposite slope from their iconic Ausone, this year the blend for the wine is 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Carmenère. It has a dark purple colour, nice juiciness, with aromas of plums and fruit salad on the nose; on the attack it is pretty, composed and fresh with spicy black fruit, precision and lots of vivacity. There is a good zippy finish with nice purity and power. The quantity is down by 30% because of mildew. Drink 2022-2030

The 2015 de Fonbel is a very pleasurable wine which will drink well for at least ten to fifteen years. This little brother of Ausone has lots of expressive, sweet fruit character in the nose - plums, red fruit, freshness and lovely spicy notes. It is rich, round and quite concentrated but manages to retain its lovely freshness. Made from a blend of 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Carménère and 5% Petit Verdot with about 30 % aging in oak barrels.

This “baby Ausone” made from a 16 hectare vineyard lower down the slopes from its big brother, is a blend of 76% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Carmenère and 7% Petit Verdot. Very attractive with very bright, crunchy red fruit character, lots of freshness and life and expressive aromas of blackberry and sweet cherries. Already drinking well now, this will be a great wine offering good value and medium term drinking.