41 / 72
34
THE AMERICAN CLUB
SEP / OCT 2016
‘Cult Wines’ is a term that’s being used more and more
frequently in the world of wines these days. But what are they?
Cult wines are, in my opinion, wines that have garnered a
huge following but remain in limited supply. To analogize,
limited-edition Hello Kitty plush toys were in huge demand
all around Asia when they were first released. Both products
are made feverishly “out of stock” by collectors who simply
must have them. Oftentimes, cult wines achieve near
maximum points from wine critics around the world, adding
to their popularity and worship-worthy status.
The term cult wines is linked to the American wine industry
and is used to describe some ‘super’ wines, usually those
in low production. Many of these wines have a specific list
of clientele who are allocated a pre-determined number
of cases or bottles every year. Very often too, there is a
waiting list of people who are willing to pay large sums of
money to obtain these wines. Original buyers of cult wines
can easily turn a profit of two to three times the amount
they invested.
The demand for these exotic wines exploded in the 1990s.
Wines like Harlan Estate, Screaming Eagle, Sine Qua Non,
Colgin Cellars and several others were catapulted into a
price orbit that exceeded the average wine buyer’s reach.
Personally, I think that this is largely a result of excellent
marketing – creating demand is easier than creating supply.
In Bordeaux, wine buyers are accustomed to en-primeur
purchases, where a wine is sold even before it has been
bottled. Famous chateaus from the left bank often
successfully sell as much wine as they are willing to release.
These vintages attract buyers year after year despite the
significant amount of money it takes to add some of them
to one’s cellar. What is vastly different between these and
cult wines, is that production could reach as much as
200,000 bottles.
Cult Wines
By Alvin Gho, Senior Beverage Director
Would you then classify grand chateaus from Bordeaux
as cult wines? And at this point, what does it mean for
a consumer if a wine is a cult wine or not? Is a non-cult
wine inferior to its counterpart? What is so fundamentally
different between these categories of wines?
In my opinion, cult wines (regardless of quality) are purchased
more for bragging rights, stemming from the buyer’s
knowledge that he is one of the rare few to own them.
As an oenophile, I am hesitant to discuss wines simply based
on their brand. If a blind taste test were to be conducted,
would cult wines stand out from other wines? Would they
outshine the Bordeaux grand chateaus like how Stag’s
Leap Wine Cellars’ did in the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976?
It has been statistically proven that history favors the grand
chateaus of Bordeaux.
I believe the appeal of cult wines lies in their inherent
investment value, as opposed to their taste. I am an
advocate of assessing a wine as a wine and not as an
investment or business. But in reality, this is only the case for
poor men like me.
Therefore the investment returns and ability to withstand
economic downturns are important factors for buyers in
deciding whether or not to purchase cult wines.
A few final thoughts to ponder – is now a good time to
buy American cult wines (as interest in the highly priced
Bordeaux Grands Crus dwindles) before the craze hits the
Asian collectors? Would you, as a wine buyer, consider
the secondary market potential of these wines? Will these
cult wines ever reach the heights of the Bordeaux grand
chateaus? No one knows for certain; only time will tell.
The following wines are now available at HOME* for your enjoyment.
*New location opposite Essentials in September
Wine
Vintage Retail Price
Alienor Cellars Grand Vin Red, Lake County
2005
$243.00
Blankiet Estate Paradise Hills Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
$399.00
Blankiet Estate Paradise Hills Vineyard Rive Droite
2005
$332.00
Coglin Cellars IX Estate Red
2003
$529.00
Kapcsandy Family Winery State Lane Vineyard
2006
$429.00
Cabernet Sauvignon
Notre Vin Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain
2003
$302.00
Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley 2006
$369.00
Sine Qua Non Stein (Grenache)
2012
$445.00
Sine Qua Non Stock (Syrah)
2012
$450.00
Sine Qua Non Dark Blossom (Syrah)
2011
$460.00
Screaming Eagle prices available upon request.