FROM MY CELLAR

If you could buy Vieux Château Certan for around US$180 or a Domaine d'Eugénie Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru for around US$330, which would you choose? On paper, the answer might seem obvious. The latest 2024 and 2025 Vieux Château Certan releases are approximately 55–60% below the prices of the celebrated 2020 and 2022 vintages. Domaine d'Eugénie's 2024 Clos de Vougeot, meanwhile, is only around 22% below comparable recent vintages. But there's another cost collectors sometimes overlook: Time. For my palate, the new Vieux Château Certan will probably need around ten years before reaching its prime, while the Clos de Vougeot should begin drinking beautifully after roughly six. So which represents the better purchase: greater value or less waiting? In this video, I compare two mature bottles from my own cellar: Vieux Château Certan 2005 — Pomerol Domaine d'Eugénie Clos de Vougeot 2010 — Burgundy Grand Cru I've collected both wines for years, and both cost me approximately US$150 when I originally bought them. Today, their latest releases present a very different buying decision. I discuss: - Vieux Château Certan vs Clos de Vougeot - Why Vieux Château Certan is sometimes described as particularly “Burgundian” - How the 2005 Vieux Château Certan is drinking today - How the 2010 Domaine d'Eugénie Clos de Vougeot has developed - Current prices for the latest releases - Why discounts alone don't determine value - Drinking windows and the hidden value of time - Why the contents of your existing cellar should influence what you buy next After more than thirty years of collecting fine wine, I've increasingly come to believe that the greatest discount doesn't automatically make the greatest purchase. A wine can represent extraordinary financial value and still be the wrong bottle for your cellar. What would you choose: the larger discount and longer wait of Vieux Château Certan, or pay more for a Clos de Vougeot you could enjoy several years earlier? I'd genuinely love to hear your reasoning in the comments. #VieuxChateauCertan #Burgundy #Bordeaux #Pomerol #ClosDeVougeot Chapters: 00:00 The Buying Dilemma 02:46 Why Compare These Two Wines? 03:36 Pomerol 04:08 Clos de Vougeot 06:37 Vieux Château Certan 2005 14:25 Domaine d'Eugénie Clos de Vougeot 2010 08:37 Value vs Time 09:30 Which Wine Would I Buy? 10:31 The Most Important Cellar Lesson Wines Featured - Pomerol, Vieux Château Certan 2005 - Latest releases discussed: 2024 ~US$160 / 2025 ~US$180 - Domaine d'Eugénie Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2010 - Latest release discussed: 2024 ~US$330 🍇 Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you in the next video. *** DISCLAIMER: The views shared here reflect my personal experience and perspective as a long-time wine enthusiast. This content is for information and enjoyment only, and should not be considered financial, investment, or purchasing advice. Drink responsibly.

#Bordeaux #Wine #Montrose #WineCollecting #WineShorts

I was in Bordeaux during the extraordinary 2003 heatwave, and at the time I wasn't convinced many of these wines would age particularly well. More than twenty years later, some have proved me completely wrong. In this video, I revisit five 2003 Bordeaux wines that I bought en primeur in spring 2004 and have followed from youth into maturity: - Saint-Julien, Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 2003 @chateauducrubeaucaillou - Pauillac, Château Lafite Rothschild 2003 - Pauillac, Château Latour 2003 @chateaulatour - Pauillac, Château Pichon Comtesse 2003 - Saint-Estèphe, Château Montrose 2003 @chateaumontrosesaint-estep6554 The 2003 Bordeaux vintage was shaped by one of the most extreme growing seasons the region had experienced in modern times. The summer was brutally hot and dry, harvest came unusually early, and many wines initially appeared ripe, powerful and unusually rich. At the time, I questioned whether they had enough freshness and balance to age gracefully. Twenty-three years later, the best wines from the northern Médoc tell a very different story. In this video, I discuss: - Why the 2003 Bordeaux vintage was so unusual - Why Pauillac and Saint-Estèphe performed particularly well - How the heatwave affected Cabernet Sauvignon - How these five wines have evolved after more than twenty years - What I paid en primeur versus current market prices - Which 2003 Bordeaux I would still buy today - Which wines I would replace with other vintages - Why Château Latour remains one of the vintage's greatest wines - Why Château Montrose 2003 may offer the most compelling For me, 2003 offers an important lesson after more than thirty years of collecting Bordeaux: extreme vintages don't always age in predictable ways. Some wines that appeared questionable in youth eventually become extraordinary. And some of the best 2003 northern Médoc wines are proving exactly that. Chapters 00:00 The Bordeaux Vintage That Proved Me Wrong 02:02 Why the Northern Médoc Succeeded 03:29 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 2003 05:28 Château Lafite Rothschild 2003 07:33 Château Latour 2003 09:52 Château Pichon Comtesse 2003 11:51 Château Montrose 2003 14:15 Which 2003 Bordeaux Would I Buy Again? 16:21 Final Thoughts If you've been drinking 2003 Bordeaux recently, which wines have surprised you most? And has the vintage aged better than you expected? Let me know in the comment section below. #Bordeaux #Vintage2003 #ChateauMontrose #ChateauLatour #WineCollecting 🍇 Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you in the next video. *** DISCLAIMER: The views shared here reflect my personal experience and perspective as a long-time wine enthusiast. This content is for information and enjoyment only, and should not be considered financial, investment, or purchasing advice. Drink responsibly.

#Wine #WineCollecting #Bordeaux #FineWine #WineShorts