Château Ausone St Emilion Grand Cru Premier Grand Cru Classé A 1961

Tawny rose in colour, this remains pristine in its fruit expression, melted tannins still cradling. There are mushrooms here, but they are fresh, and the whole thing is fragrant, gentle, full of joy. The definition of lace tannins, more powerful than they seem at first, the layers build slowly but with plenty of confidence, not so much cold ash as gently warmed embers, along with soy, black tea, saffron, sea spray, truffles and a whisper of autumnal fruit. Cécile Dubois-Challon was the owner at the time (one of just three families that have owned Ausone since the 14th century), the wife of Marcel Vauthier, with Jean Dubois-Challon cellar master. We were tasting this on a Friday, the bottle had been brought out of the cellar on Wdensday and left upright, so moved from horizontal to vertical for 48 hours, then a few hours before drinking it was decanted from one magnum to another for sediment.