What Château Ausone does

Château Ausone is a privately held family wine estate in Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux, owned and operated by the Vauthier family, who have stewarded the property since 1690 across eleven generations. Current leadership comprises Alain Vauthier and his daughter Pauline Vauthier, both credited as winemakers. The estate produces wine from a structurally constrained 7-hectare vineyard distributed across small terraced parcels on the limestone plateau and hillside of lieu-dit Roc Blancan, planted predominantly to Cabernet Franc with Merlot, at an average vine age of 50 years. It is classified as Premier Grand Cru Classé A, the highest tier of the Saint-Émilion classification, a status shared with only three other estates (Pétrus, Cheval Blanc, Angélus).

The estate's product portfolio consists of two wines: the flagship Château Ausone grand vin, a Cabernet Franc-led red wine aged in the estate's 18th-century underground limestone quarry cellars and renowned for its aging potential spanning decades; and Chapelle d'Ausone, the second wine produced from younger vines, designed for earlier drinkability while preserving the estate's signature style. Viticulture is conducted under biological and biodynamic-influenced practices, and aging leverages the high humidity and thermal stability of the converted quarries.

Château Ausone distributes its production primarily through the traditional Place de Bordeaux en primeur negotiant system, reaching global fine wine merchants, auction houses, and fine dining establishments. Direct allocation access is available to a restricted set of professional buyers and repeat collectors through an authenticated portal on the estate's website. The estate also operates a Prooftag-based bottle authentication service for provenance verification in secondary markets. The company is headquartered in Saint-Émilion, France, with operations centered at lieu-dit Roc Blancan; ownership and management are consolidated under the family entity Vignobles Vauthier.

Name

Château Ausone

Legal name

Château Ausone

Website

https://chateau-ausone.fr

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Château Ausone is a family-owned Premier Grand Cru Classé A wine estate in Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux, producing limited quantities of Cabernet Franc-led red wine from a 7-hectare vineyard for global fine wine collectors, merchants, and allocation holders via the Place de Bordeaux trade system.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Premium Bordeaux Wine

NAICS

Wineries (312130), Grape Vineyards (111332), Wineries (31213)

akta.pro primary industry

Wine Production & Winemaking (AFAFAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Organic Vineyard & Wine Grape Farming (AFAGAKAI), Vineyard Certification & Sustainability Programs (Organic, Biodynamic, Regenerative, GAP) (AFAGAJAL), Wine Grape Vineyard Operations (Varietal/AVA Practices, Yield & Quality Targets) (AFAGAJAJ)

Keywords

• Premium Bordeaux wine
• Saint-Émilion wine
• Fine wine production
• Biodynamic viticulture
• Grand cru classé wine

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint-Émilion

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Château Ausone is a Saint-Émilion wine estate producing Premier Grand Cru Classé A Bordeaux wines — the grand vin Château Ausone and the second wine Chapelle d'Ausone — from a 7-hectare vineyard on limestone soils using biodynamic viticulture and aging in underground limestone quarry cellars.

Product overview

Château Ausone is a traditional Bordeaux wine estate producing two wines from its 7-hectare vineyard in Saint-Émilion. The flagship Château Ausone is a Premier Grand Cru Classé A red wine predominantly from Cabernet Franc (with Merlot), known for its power, minerality, and exceptional aging potential. The second wine, Chapelle d'Ausone, is made from younger vines and offers earlier approachability while maintaining the estate's hallmark elegance. Both wines are produced through organic and biodynamic-influenced viticulture on limestone and clay-limestone soils, with aging conducted in the estate's historic underground limestone quarries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Chapelle d'Ausone: The estate's second wine, crafted from young vines destined to later produce the grand vin. Made with predominantly Merlot and some Cabernet Sauvignon, offering elegance and crisp fruit.

Products and services

• Château Ausone

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Vignobles VauthiercoreOthersParent company and estate management entity overseeing Château Ausone and related properties under the Vauthier family's stewardship since 1690, representing the 11th generation of winegrowers at the estate.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Domaine de la Romanée-Conti: Burgundy's most prestigious estate, producing tiny volumes of iconic Pinot Noir at auction-clearing prices comparable to Ausone's top Bordeaux. Both rely on extreme scarcity, multi-generational family stewardship, and a dedicated collector base.
• Domaine Leroy: Ultra-premium Burgundy producer operating biodynamically on old-vine parcels, with auction pricing overlapping Ausone's. Similar supply-constrained business model targeting the same high-net-worth collector and investor segment.
• Château Cheval Blanc: Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé A estate sharing the same top-tier classification as Ausone. Both produce Cabernet Franc-led wines from limestone-adjacent terroirs and command equivalent positioning in the global fine wine market.
• Château Angélus: The fourth Premier Grand Cru Classé A in Saint-Émilion alongside Ausone, with a similarly Merlot-dominant profile and estate-bottled luxury positioning. Direct neighbor in appellation and competing for the same allocation-driven collector base.
• Château Pétrus: Pomerol estate generally considered alongside Château Ausone as one of the most prestigious and expensive wines in Bordeaux. Both operate at the apex of the right bank, produce Merlot-dominant wines from very small estates, and serve the same ultra-premium collector and investor segment.
• Egon Müller Scharzhof: Germany's most prestigious Riesling producer, with similarly tiny production, single-family stewardship, and auction-leading prices. Comparable ultra-premium, scarcity-driven business model targeting the same global fine wine collector audience.

Broad incumbents

• Château Mouton Rothschild: Pauillac First Growth with strong brand equity, artist-label tradition, and global distribution. Comparable prestige tier but substantially larger production and a more diversified commercial footprint than Ausone.
• Château Margaux: First Growth (Premier Cru Classé) in the Médoc with significantly larger production and broader distribution. Comparable at the apex of Bordeaux prestige but serves a wider commercial audience through a portfolio including second and third wines.
• Château Haut-Brion: Pessac-Léognan First Growth, the only Graves estate in the 1855 classification. Comparable apex positioning in Bordeaux with a broader portfolio (white and red) and historically larger production base than Ausone.
• Château Lafite Rothschild: Pauillac First Growth with global brand recognition and deep secondary-market liquidity. Competes with Ausone for top-of-pyramid collector dollars but at materially larger scale and broader geographic reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ch%C3%A2teau-ausone

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Château Ausone