Cos Vegas and Lasablanca

I never drink half-bottles in public. I did buy one to drink at home last night in order to reset into phantom-mode after that Sunday night humanization process known as dinner with my grandma. More accurately, I bought it because I thought it was a good deal. The half-bottle price for the 2000 Lascombes was on par with a level that I had recently gladly paid on the wholesale market. I took out my current corkscrew - yes, current - they all meet horrible fates like impairment from attempted screwdrivering or being kidnapped by TSA - and as I'm about to open the Lascombes, I realized that I had, well, fucked up.

I had confused the price of the 2000 Lascombes with the price of the 2000 Cos d'Estournel. Even though both are second growths from the Bordeaux Classification of 1855 and both are currently on the rise in the market, Lascombes is from the appellation of Margaux while Cos is from St. Estephe. Of course I open it anyway under the assumption that drinking it can only make me smarter.

I latch onto one idea: if I have a sommelier diploma from France and I can make such a mistake - even if it was just a brain fart (them giving me the diploma) - then emerging markets will never, never ever, sufficiently differentiate enough between the Second Growths to drive a substantial divergence in pricing. Perhaps Leoville Las Cases can stay ahead of the pack through its brand distinctiveness in the west, but that doesn't interest me very much. I make a living off where the new money pours in. And I think 2011 will be a year for the current Second Growth laggards.