1988 Ausone 

BY NEAL MARTIN | APRIL 8, 2019&nbsp;

Do you have bottles associated with unhappy
memories? I do. Not many thankfully, though 1988 is, or more accurately was, one of them. February 2003 and my
hot new girlfriend is taking me for a candlelit dinner at a chichi restaurant
in Islington. The ambiance is perfect. The food is divine. The titular wine is
showing well. Unfortunately I am suffering a migraine from hell. In fact, it
feels as if the devil himself is searing the inside of my head with his
white-hot pitchfork. I struggle through the evening, though my attempts to
shrug it off are in vain and we leave early. Fast-forward 16 years and I am lunching
at Noble Rot restaurant with co-proprietor Dan Keeling. Granted, the ambiance is
less romantic however a) there is no white-hot poker pressing against my skull
and b) Mr. Keeling is kindly pouring the exact same Saint-Émilion. Although the
1980s were comparatively underwhelming for Ausone, this bottle is among the
most enjoyable that I have encountered from that period.&nbsp;<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1554735078554-ausone_1988_bottle.jpg"> The 1988
Ausone shows extremely well after 31 years. It remains lucid in colour with
little ageing on the rim. The bouquet is clean, with so much fruit that it
comes across more like a 1989 than a 1988. It sports none of the leanness or
greenness one sometimes finds with Right Bank 1988s, just lovely black plum and
mulberry fruit, hints of allspice and iodine. The palate is medium-bodied, well
balanced and underpinned by slightly brawny tannins. However this is
compensated by endearing plummy fruit, truffle and a subtle marine influence
towards the finish. Consumed over the course of a 2-3 hour lunch it improves
with aeration and it never loses an ounce of joie de vivre. No, the 1988 is not
the most complex Ausone, however, it is certainly the most pleasurable from the
decade. Drink this now as it will not improve further, but well-stored bottles
will give another decade of drinking pleasure.&nbsp;92/Drink 2019-2030.

1988 Ausone

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