Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve | Mouthwatering wine, from the nose, to the tannin feel through the monumental finish, which stays elegant. Caudalies are infinite and last more than an hour after tasting. Everything is there in this wine—intensity of tannins and structure, mouth-filling texture, perfectly tense with the right touch of satin, and a superlative freshness. | 98–99

Michael Schuster | Black-cherry fruit, faintly coconutty wood, and subtle limestone aromas; full, moderately concentrated in fruit, more in aromas, vital in acidity, firm in tannin; a ripe black- and red-cherry fruit, pure and fine and transparent, a beautiful flavor of great finesse, great tenacity, and mouthcoatingly fragrant; taut, graceful, complete, and with great fragrant length. Very fine Ausone but, like the Chapelle, a little wood-dry in texture for now. 15 years minimum. 2033–50+. | 95–96+