{"id":23823,"date":"2023-05-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidelaplace.rcassocies.com\/2023\/05\/17\/inside-la-place-the-ascent-to-chateau-ausone-5-gems-from-the-vauthier-family\/"},"modified":"2023-05-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T00:00:00","slug":"inside-la-place-the-ascent-to-chateau-ausone-5-gems-from-the-vauthier-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidelaplace.rcassocies.com\/en\/2023\/05\/17\/inside-la-place-the-ascent-to-chateau-ausone-5-gems-from-the-vauthier-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside La Place – The ascent to Ch\u00e2teau Ausone… 5 gems from the Vauthier family\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pauline et Edouard Vauthier<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Managers and co-owners<\/p>\n

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It is always a great pleasure to meet Pauline and Edouard Vauthier at Ch\u00e2teau Ausone. They are two dynamic young people living in the midst of their exceptional terroir. Here, there are no ostentatious signs, but a true life of winemakers attached to their land.<\/p>\n

In this Inside La Place article, we wish to focus on the other ch\u00e2teaux from Vauthier family, and particularly on Ch\u00e2teau Haut-Simard, whose magnificent terroir is located between three illustrious neighbors: Ch\u00e2teau Pavie, Ch\u00e2teau La Gaffeli\u00e8re, and Ch\u00e2teau Canon La Gaffeli\u00e8re. First, I asked Pauline and Edouard some questions in order to better understand the history of each ch\u00e2teau in 5 steps. The identity of their 7 crus (including Ausone and Chapelle d’Ausone) leads us to the top, Ch\u00e2teau Ausone.<\/strong> We will make our way from the bottom of the village of Saint-\u00c9milion to the top to meet the wines of the Vauthier family: Ch\u00e2teau Fonbel<\/strong>, the seductive wine, Ch\u00e2teau Simard<\/strong>, the fresh and straight Merlot, Ch\u00e2teau Haut-Simard<\/strong>, the dominant Cabernet Franc with great typicity, Ch\u00e2teau Moulin Saint-Georges<\/strong>, the perfect balance between Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and last but not least, Ch\u00e2teau La Clotte<\/strong>, the great class of Merlot.<\/p>\n

This stroll is a fascinating initiation and not to be missed for Bordeaux lovers.<\/p>\n

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1st step: Ch\u00e2teau Simard, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Edouard Vauthier:\u00a0<\/strong>It is a 50-hectare vineyard opposite Canon La Gaffeli\u00e8re. We inherited it when my father’s uncle passed away in 2008. The soil is light and the vast majority is planted with Merlot. It is our entry-level wine of which we are proud.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pauline Vauthier<\/strong><\/span>: I love this wine as it has an easy approach. These are crisp, accessible Merlots with nice red fruits, without complexities and meant to be drunk when young, but can also age for 10 years without problems. We respect the terroir and never push the winemaking process to find the character and balance in each vintage. This cru is a big brand in the United States and also well-followed in Norway and Japan. It is the first step for the consumer to get to know our wines.<\/p>\n

2nd step: Ch\u00e2teau Fonbel, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Pauline Vauthier<\/strong><\/span>: We have owned this Saint-Emilion Grand Cru since 1971, which is located in the plain south of the village of Saint-Emilion. This wine has been sold by La Place de Bordeaux for a very long time, and commercially, it has been a great success. We are delighted with what the negociants have done for this vineyard, which covers 16 hectares of clay-sandy, gravelly, and simply sandy soil. The majority of this vineyard is planted with Merlot (85%) and for the rest, it is Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, and Petit Verdot. It is fascinating for us to stay in touch with these other Bordeaux grape varieties. This wine is a fruit bomb with a lot of body in the mid-palate, but it maintains the freshness to which we are very attached.<\/p>\n

3rd step: Ch\u00e2teau Haut-Simard, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pauline Vauthier<\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0We want to bring more attention to this estate, which deserves it fully as it is unique in its kind. Ch\u00e2teau Haut-Simard is really different from Ch\u00e2teau Simard. Unfortunately, the market still confuses the two estates too much. So, there is a real reflection to be made to differentiate them more.<\/span><\/p>\n

We acquired Ch\u00e2teau Haut-Simard in 2008. It is a 10-hectare vineyard with a density of 12,600 vines per hectare, which is huge for Saint-Emilion. Its neighbors are Pavie, Canon la Gaffeli\u00e8re, and La Gaffeli\u00e8re. It is a jewel with a high proportion of cabernet franc in the blend, between 50 to 60%, the rest being merlot. The soil is clay-limestone and sandy.<\/p>\n

In recent years, we have decided to put more cabernet franc in the blend. It is a grape variety in which we believe a lot with climate change. Remember that Chapelle d’Ausone 2021 is a 100% cabernet franc wine. Thanks to this high density of 12,600 vines per hectare at Haut-Simard, the rooting is deep. Who knows… Maybe one day, this wine will be made with 90% cabernet franc. It is a wine that has its character, incomparable to our other wines. Vinification and aging are done only in concrete tanks to maintain freshness, crunchiness, and a beautiful acidity that gives Haut-Simard great drinkability. It has a lot of length and is flavorful. It can be compared to an excellent Loire wine, it has all the qualities, but I think we should keep a small portion of merlot to make these cabernet francs more appealing. Ch\u00e2teau Haut-Simard has the great signature of the Vauthier family, which translates into our ancestral love and know-how for cabernet franc.<\/p>\n

4th step: Ch\u00e2teau Moulin Saint-Georges, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Pauline Vauthier<\/strong><\/span>: The family has owned this 8-hectare vineyard since 1921, which is located opposite Ch\u00e2teau Ausone. Moulin Saint-Georges is situated between La Clotte, Pavie Macquin, and La Gaffeli\u00e8re. This argilo-calcareous terroir is planted with 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The average age of the vines is high: 45 years. Thanks to the limestone, which we love in the family, the wine can be enjoyed young but also has great aging potential. We mainly sell it in Europe. It deserves to be better known because it is a wine full of depth, elegance, and complexity.<\/p>\n

5th step: Ch\u00e2teau La Clotte, Saint-Emilion\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Edouard Vauthier<\/strong><\/span>: We bought this property in 2014. There are opportunities in life that must not be missed, and La Clotte was one of them. It’s a 4-hectare jewel, of which only 2.5 hectares are currently in production. It’s a magnificent argilo-calcareous terroir planted with 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, with enormous potential to produce an exceptional wine. European wine enthusiasts and knowledgeable English connoisseurs already know this.<\/p>\n

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The business<\/h2>\n

Gerda: What positioning do you want for these 5 wines?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pauline Vauthier<\/strong><\/span>: It is essential that each wine stays in its market and finds its consumers in every corner of the world. All markets are open, except for Simard for which we still have 5 states in the United States that are protected: New Jersey, Texas, Nevada, New York, and Illinois. We trust the Place de Bordeaux for all our wines.<\/p>\n

Edouard\u00a0<\/strong>Vauthier<\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0I often say that the Vauthier family is a small unit of 90 hectares in organic agriculture with 7 estates differentiated by their terroirs and positions. If we extrapolate with Burgundy, we can say that:<\/span><\/p>\n