Beneath the Label
Bordeaux Mythology suggests this Domaine dates back to 4BC and the poet Ausonias. History aside, today’s winemakers and chateau owners of Bordeaux agree, Ausone has the some of the best Terrior in all of Bordeaux.
Critic Score: 100 Points – Robert Parker
“A perfect wine…that should be drunk over the next 50-70 years.”
Region Rating: Vosne Romanee – 99T
Focus on the ‘T’, this is a tight, highly structured wine whose austere nature suggests it to be a multi-generational monster.
Drinking Window: 2025 – 2095
The old style of Bordeaux with modern wine making tech. Designed to slowly evolve and grow.
Production Volume: 1,300 cases
By Bordeaux standards this is tiny. Extremely hard to get your hands on at release.
Summary:
Ausone is an extremely unique Bordeaux wine. It is thought of in fantastically high regard amongst the few that get to try it. The financial barrier to entry is high and compounded by scarcity. However once a fan, always a fan.
The focus for investment is on longevity, with the wine set to have an extremely long trading lifetime. This does have the effect of lessening the momentum created by a necessity to consume. However, it does mean this could acquire the very unique status of a 30+ year old 100 pointer. Something rarely achieved by any wine.
“Masterpiece of concentration and balance, will no doubt be drinking well a century from now“
Parker
Money Matters
Brand Power: 86/100, rank 30th in BiBO Brand Power Metric
A brand that is included in the discussion around the most prestigious and best wines in Bordeaux.
Liquidity: 20%
A combination of price point and a unique customer base makes this wine somewhat stickier than others. Timelines for movement should be longer.
Inter-Trade Price Volatility: 7.23%
Public exchange trading of this wine is relatively limited. Although data show this to be a stable Bordeaux wine that won’t produce any nasty surprises.
Summary
The initial financial performance is unsurprising considering the release date and the projected longevity of the wine. There is no rush to consume it and therefore no real freneticism in trading. Movements are slow and predictable, with high correlation to the Liv-Ex indices. This is a very easily managed wine.
Position for Profit
This is a great example of how top wines, especially muscular Bordeaux can plateau in between growth windows.
This is a 100 point, top Chateau, there is not a lot to dislike. However at the moment it is simply ageing. Not many people are drinking it or writing about it. As such it is out of the spotlight.
It is important to think of your timeline and avoid buying wines in this phase unless you have the patience to wait for it to come back into vogue and reward you.