Cult Wines

Cult wines are wines for which groups of committed enthusiasts are willing pay large sums of
money. Such wines include, for example, Screaming Eagle from California and Penfolds
Grange from Australia, among many others.

Cult wines are often seen as trophy wines to be collected, or as investment wine to be held
rather than consumed. Because price is often seen as an indicator of quality (!?), high prices
often increase the desirability of such wines. This may also be true even for less expensive
wines. One vintner explains that on several occasions he had had difficulty selling wines at $75,
but as soon as he raised the price to $125 they sold out and got put on allocation.

Other wines that occasionally fall into this category are from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhône and
Italy. These wines, when scored highly by Robert Parker have had a tendency to increase in
price, resembling the Bordeaux investment market.

The cult wines of Bordeaux tend to be left-bank cabernet-based wines that ranked highly in
the Classification of 1855. Château Lafite Rothschild,Château Latour, Château
Margaux, Château Haut-Brion, and Château Mouton Rothschild all qualify. Right-bank wines
from Pétrus, Château Le Pin, Château Angélus, and Château Cheval Blanc are also highly soughtafter.

With the exception of Le Pin (which was first produced in 1979), all of these estates have
a long history of fine wine production, going back in some cases to before the 1700s.
The production levels of these wines is generally higher than California cult wines—Haut-Brion,
for example, produces 10,000 -12,000 cases annually, Lafite produces just under 30,000, and
Petrus produces 6,000. Le Pin would be one of the smallest-producing of the Bordeaux cult
wines, at 600-700 cases a year.

California cult wines are very good, extremely rare, wines, almost all cabernet-based, produced
by small wineries mostly in or near the Napa Valley. They sell -- or did until recently -- for as
much as $2,000 a bottle. There is -- or was until recently -- a very small group of collectors
fanatically eager to pay those prices. Since small groups of fanatics are often called cults, these
wines came to be known as cult wines.

These Napa wines, which debuted in the '90s, became almost as renowned for their four-figure
prices as for their tiny production amounts and rich, concentrated style. And while some
pundits predicted their outsize popularity would disappear when the decade's prosperity did,
labels like Harlan Estate, Araujo and Screaming Eagle are as sought after as ever. Moreover, it
seems every new Napa label has been made in the hope that it, too, will become a cult
Cabernet. But which, if any, are likely to be the next big names?

Inflamed by the wines' ecstatic reviews, collectors bid their prices to dizzying heights, then
bought them, not necessarily to drink, but to own -- along with the bragging rights that went
with them. The wines were, and still are, sold mostly by mail order.  There are actually lists of people waiting to get on the cult wine mailing lists. A few bottles find their way into restaurants, which is about the only place other than auction houses where less fortunate wine fans will find them -- less fortunate but still with deep pockets. Restaurants, too, pay through the nose for cult wines. That's the way it's been, but things are changing.

The emergence of the cult movement coincided with trends in the 1990s towards riper fruit
and wines with bigger and more concentrated flavors. The producers of such wines
include Araujo Estates, Bryant Family Vineyard, Chateau Montelena, Colgin Cellars, Dalla Valle
Vineyards, Grace Family Vineyards, Harlan Estate, Schrader Cellars, Screaming Eagle and Sine
Qua Non. All of which have scored 100 points from wine critics. Cult wine makers don’t like calling their wines by that name: they prefer to call them “boutique” wines. A first non-estate vintage may sell for $150 a bottle, versus $275 for an estate one. All tend to sell out.

Cult “estate” wine is produced from grapes grown in the winery’s owned vineyards, whereas
non-estate wine is made with fruit from a different grower's vineyards, cultivated with direction
from the winemaking team.  These wines are generally very expensive and are limited production (often fewer than 600 cases per year) and can command several times their "release price" in the secondary market. 

It never fails to surprise how many big names from one decade become obsolete by the next. Take, for example, a few from the '90s. Does anyone care about Ross Perot? Gennifer Flowers?
Tickle Me Elmo? Famous then, forgotten now. There are, of course, some notable exceptions,
like Hillary Clinton and cult Cabernets.  They were big, rich, powerful and impressive, though still very much in their youth. This was hardly a revelation, as they are all produced by winemaking teams using the same vineyard techniques.

The first requirement in creating a would-be cult wine is a densely planted hillside vineyard. The
reasons are simple - better drainage means better water control and less vigorous vines, which
produce smaller berries with more intense flavors.

But there are plenty of hillside vineyards that don't produce cult wines. Isn't it important to
make sure the wine is hard to get? Phelps Insignia is a great wine, but there are 15,000 cases
made every year. You can't have a cult wine that's available at Costco. Consider the original
California cult wines: Harlan's production is around 1,500 cases; Screaming Eagle, 500; Bryant
Family, 900; and Colgin Cellars, 350.

Did one vintner make only 150 cases of his rich, textured Cabernet that first year because he
was aiming for cult status? No, it was because he didn't know what he was doing. His
production is now at around 700 cases, an amount he pronounced ideal.  The distribution of cult wines varies, but most wineries strive for a mix of mailing-list customers and restaurant accounts. Cult wines are rarely, if ever, found in stores.  A hillside site is not the only necessity for a cult wine - the vineyard should face east, preferably near a body of water, and possess fractured rock or gravel soil.

No wonder so many people want to make cult wine: All that's required is the right winemaker,
the right (hilly, east-facing, water-adjacent) site, the right price per bottle, the right production
level and, of course, Parker's phone number. A cult wine can't be made with a pen. It needs
something ineffable. Call it charisma or glamour or even magic, it makes some wines stars and
others also-rans, and as every great winemaker will say, it's what keeps them all in the game.
What any would-be cult wine really needs is the approval of one man: critic Robert M. Parker,
Jr. Without his blessing, it will be hard for any wine to achieve cult status.

Recent events have taken their toll on the greedy excesses of the 1990's. There is the faltering
economy, of course, and the national tragedies that have unsettled everyone. Throwing money
at wildly overpriced wines seems less exciting than it did only a few years ago.

People still want good wine, but they are going for lower prices and they are buying French
wines. Interest in the cult wines dropped off with the collapse of the dot-coms; once the 25-
year-old millionaires could no longer afford them, it was over.

How much the cult wineries have been affected by the economic downturn is difficult to gauge.
Their prices are generally in line with larger producers of fine wine like Robert Mondavi Winery,
Beringer and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, which charge up to $125 for their top-of-the-line wines.
In other words, casual buyers need not look for any notable price breaks. It remains to be seen,
though, how many of their mail-order customers will remain loyal if they can no longer double
or triple their investment at auctions or in private deals.

Old-timers in the wine business like to say that if you can't sell the stuff, you can always drink it.
For many of the current crop of speculators, drinking their wine is not an option. Looking back
on the lavishness in the wine market in recent years, one restauranteur compared the insecure
new wine drinker of the 1990's with the insecure new restaurant-goer in the 1970's. They both
figured that the more expensive it was the better it was, he said. Maybe we can get back to
enjoying wine for the way it tastes and not for how much it costs.

Some wine stores in Ontario have tasting bars where you can sample products from the latest
releases. Stores and wineries use this marketing tactic to help sell wines. You will seldom find
cult wines in a tasting bar because they tend to sell out on their own very quickly.

Some (California) cult wines available in Ontario:

(According to Natalie MacLean, Ottawa-based Sommelier and Wine Critic/Columnist)

Paul Hobbs Crossbarn Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 Napa Valley, California, United States -

Aromas of blackcurrant, cedar, pepper and cassis. Full-bodied with terrific structure and

length. Cabernet Sauvignon food pairings: braised meats, herbed steaks, venison. Alcohol:

14.5% Sweetness: Dry 750 ml Drink: 2013‐2016 Best Beef Wine Top Rated Red Wine Price:

$38.95 Score: 91/100 LCBO: 118695

Rodney Strong Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California,

United States Classic, tannic, decant 2 hours or cellar it. Black fruit and smoke. Great

balance. Alcohol: 13.4% Sweetness: Extra Dry 750 ml Drink: 2013‐2017 Heavenly Hamburger

Wine Price: $29.95 Score: 90/100 LCBO: 50427

Beaulieu Vineyard Georges De Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Napa Valley, California, United States Full-bodied, towering structure and incredible depth.

One for the cellar if you can't wait. Dark fruit and a juiciness wonder on the finish. Alcohol:

14.5% Sweetness: Extra Dry 750 ml Drink: 2013‐2017 Gorgeous Gift Wine Price: $109.95

Score: 93/100 LCBO: 80218

Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2008  Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California, United States  Full-bodied and tight and tannic, needs to relax like a newly minted Manhattan socialite.  Aromas of dark fruit, smoke and non-sale days at Saks. Alcohol: 13.7% Sweetness: Extra Dry 750 ml Drink: 2013‐2017 Gorgeous Gift Wine Price: $87.95 Score: 92/100 LCBO: 943472

Nickel & Nickel State Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 California, United States. Classic

California cabernet: this red wine offers attractive aromas and flavours of dark red fruit,

toasty oak and some cassis. Structured and layered. Give it some cellar time. Alcohol: 14%

Sweetness: Extra Dry 750 ml Drink: 2013‐2017 Gorgeous Gift Wine Price: $115.95 Score:

92/100 LCBO: 292300

Cakebread Dancing Bear Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc 2009

California, United States Dark and brooding with aromas of dark chocolate and espressocoffee

from the generous oak aging. Full-bodied with fleshy black fruit. It would do well in

the cellar. Decant for 2 hours when opening. Alcohol: 14.9% Sweetness: Extra Dry 750 ml Drink: 2013‐2020 Gorgeous Gift Wine Price: $155.95 Score: 93/100 LCBO: 220459

Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 Napa Valley, California, United States

Mocha, coffee and toasty oak open up to fleshy black fruit on the palate. Layered

complexity and satisfaction. This robust red is a blend is 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3%

Cabernet Franc and 1% each Petit Verdot and Merlot grapes. Pair with filet mignon. Alcohol:

14.5% Sweetness: Dry 750 ml   Drink: 2014‐2018 Heavenly Hamburger wine. Top Rated Red

Wine Price: $49.95 Score: 92/100 LCBO: 91058

Simi Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California, United States

Full-bodied, balanced and juicy with classic blackcurrant and blackberry aromas and

flavours. Juicy and mouth-watering. Pair with brisket. Alcohol: 13.5% Sweetness: Extra Dry

750 ml Drink: 2013‐2017 Best Beef Wine Price: $24.95 Score: 90/100 LCBO: 25221

Kenwood Jack London Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 Sonoma Mountain, California,

United States Concentrated, deep, almost savage like the eponymous Jack London wolves in

Call of the Wild. Classic aromas of blackcurrant and cassis. Full-bodied with a tannic grip.

Decant 1-2 hours. Pair with wild game, what else? Cabernet Sauvignon food pairings: herbcrusted

lamb grilled rare. Alcohol: 14.5% Sweetness: Extra Dry 750 ml Drink: 2013‐

2017 Luscious Lamb Wine Price: $37.95 Score: 90/100 LCBO: 944843