Verse-Forged Fortune: Château Ausone 2015 and the Poetic Power of Scarcity
When Bacchus hid a magic stanza in Ausonius’s library, he seeded a Right-Bank legend that now trades like treasure in the modern wine market.
The Night I Inked the Vines
Long ago I wandered into the scriptorium of Decimus Magnus Ausonius - Rome’s poet laureate and namesake of the limestone bluff that now bears his mark. By lamp-light I scribbled a single verse on fresh parchment: “Let stone remember summer even in winter.” When dawn broke, the words had vanished; the parchment crackled, sprouted tendrils, and dissolved into dust that smelled of blackcurrant and violet. Centuries later, monks digging cellars beneath that cliff uncovered soil streaked with the same perfume. They planted Cabernet Franc and Merlot, and the vines answered the verse - becoming Château Ausone. The 2015 vintage, drawn from that very granite seam, is the purest echo of my midnight rhyme.
Inside the Bottle
Fifty-fifty Cabernet Franc and Merlot - 14.5 % ABV - just 1800 cases released. Perfect 100-point scores from both James Suckling and Jeb Dunnuck, 99 from Wine Advocate, and 98s from Vinous and Decanter place it shoulder-to-shoulder with Ausone’s 2005 and 2009 icons. Drinking window: 2025-2060+.
Market Pulse - August 2025
- Wine-Searcher global average: about $996 per 750 ml ex-tax Wine-Searcher
- U.S. average retail: roughly $1070 per 750 ml Laguna Cellar
- Liv-ex mid-price (EU merchants): currently sits close to €600 a bottle - about €60 (roughly 11 %) above the 2016 en-primeur tag of €540, translating to a 30-plus-percent gain when converted to US dollars after exchange-rate shifts.
Price momentum paused during the 2024 fine-wine slowdown, yet Ausone 2015 still outperformed the broader Bordeaux 500 due to razor-thin supply and its twin 100s.
Why Investors Still Sing This Verse
Château Ausone 2015 offers a rare alchemy of attributes that keeps seasoned collectors humming. Its micro-production - barely 1800 cases - means each bottle carries the cachet of genuine scarcity, yet liquidity remains surprisingly healthy because Liv-ex, Sotheby’s, and Zachys list it often enough to satisfy active traders. Adding to the allure is nostalgia for its Premier Grand Cru Classé A badge; Ausone withdrew from the Saint-Émilion hierarchy in 2022, so A-status vintages like 2015 now feel like heirlooms frozen in time. Layer onto that the right-bank brilliance of the 2015 growing season, which delivered plush, ripe fruit wrapped in invigorating Cabernet Franc acidity, and you have a wine built for decades of graceful evolution. For portfolios heavy in left-bank First Growths, Ausone 2015 supplies both diversification and a double 100-point halo that few peers can match - an unbeatable combination of scarcity, pedigree, and enduring demand that continues to resonate through the fine-wine market.
Risks Even a God Can’t Charm Away
- Prices have tracked sideways for 18 months - upside may wait on a broader market thaw.
- Ultra-low float means selling a full case can take weeks.
- Dollar weakness would trim U.S. gains on euro-denominated stock.
The Bacchic Portfolio Play
Start by locking down pristine six- or twelve-bottle original wooden cases - or better yet magnums - from top-tier merchants or direct Liv-ex offers. Tuck them into bonded storage at 12-13 °C and 70 % humidity. Plan to wait until 2030-2040, when the first truffle scents emerge and global demand usually peaks. A resale band of $1300-1500 per 750 ml should yield a 6-8 % annualized return from today’s $1000-1200 level - richer still if you ride magnum premiums. And when you finally open one, pair it with roast pheasant and read the lost verse aloud; the glass will answer in perfume and profit.
Final Libation
I left a single line of poetry buried in Ausone’s bedrock, and it ripened into liquid gold. Château Ausone 2015 proves that words - like vines and fortunes - can grow stronger under stone. Guard it well, and let the stanza compound in your cellar.
