Is the 1999 Ausone the wine of the vintage? Dense purple color, a compelling bouquet of licorice, minerals, black and blueberry liqueur, extraordinary delineation, high tannin, superb extract, and phenomenal richness all are the stuff of a legend. This wine seems impossible to have emerged from a vintage like 1999. Proprietor Alain Vauthier produced only 20,000 bottles because he eliminated one-fourth of the tiny crop. The result is out-and-out fabulous, but the wine needs 12-15 years of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2050.

Robert Parker Jr - The Wine Advocate, 29 April 2002

This Ausone has a deep, broody nose with black cherries, iodine, leather and a touch of ginger. The palate is full-bodied with thick chewy tannins, not as fine as more recent vintages. Pure black cherries, iodine, bilberry, a touch of sourness towards the finish that shows a slight hardness. This is what you might describe as a 'steadfast', almost 'conservative' Ausone, but it seems to have lost the exuberance that it demonstrated in its youth. Drink 2012-2025. Tasted June 2009.

Neal Martin - Wine Journal Jul 2009