Which are the hardest, seems they are all 4 years +
SQN is number 1
Screaming Eagle
Marcassin
Kosta Browne SVD
Carlisle
Which others would seem exclusive but actually aren’t
Harlan
Monte Bello
Turley
Spotteswoode
Just throwing out for discussion
Add Lewelling to the hard to get on list.
Screagle appears to have a longer wait than SQN.
Marcassin is a great mystery. A couple of years ago, when they went all estate, they also appeared to go through a period of expansion of production and/or massive attrition. People who had been waiting 10 years were granted first time offers along with those waiting less than 6 months. I sent them a letter expressing interest during that period, and was met with an immediate response - alas, they don’t ship to my state so I moved on. It seems they’ve since pulled back under a shroud of mystery…
No surprise on Carlisle. As long as Mike maintains his position as the King value play, I expect waits to continue to grow.
Saxum seems to be getting harder and harder to crack.
Cayuse takes forever to grow an allocation.
Schrader seems difficult as well, and even the ubiquitous HSS is tough to crack for noobs as they often shut down even waiting list sign ups for years at a time.
A little more under the radar, I still haven’t heard from Jones Family after years of waiting.
Screagle took me ~6 yrs, SQN ~9 to get on.
I’ll never forget my conversation w/ Screagle when I signed up. Back then, it was a phone call. The nice lady tried to politely tell me that the wait was so long that it really wasn’t worth the hassle of even signing up. I was 23 at the time, told her that I was likely going to outlive the majority of the mailing list and that I’d take my chances!
That’s a funny story Clint. Perhaps Im closer to making the Screagle list than I thought. I signed up for Screagle mid 06, so ~8 years ago and I’m still waiting. The most recent SQN offer, many reported signing up mid '06 and received offers. Annecdotaly, that implies the Screagle wait surpassed SQN at some point in the last 8 years. I have no idea what that means for today’s sign ups.
Man, I sure don’t miss list mania. I buy what I want when I want it. Plenty of stuff out there that is the equal or better than these wines for less money and hassle free. Been there, done that.
Today I’m on Zero lists.
But at some point in the last 2 decades, I was on the following:
Peter Michael
Kistler
Aubert
Rivers Marie
Dalla Valle
Colgin
Harlan
Bryant
Araujo
Never tried to sign up for Screagle, but sent in letters and tried to call for both SQN (early '00s) and Marcassin (mid '90s) and never heard back from either, so I guess both are somewhat random!
+1 that I’m happy to be off all lists, buying what I want when I want, etc…
I’d be willing to be that DRC’s list is a tough nut to crack.
Surprisingly easy, but they wanted a 100K deposit so I had to pass… 
Craig, I think list mania has cooled quite a bit over the last few years. In recent history, an offer from every winery generated a new thread. Today, plenty offers come and go with no mention at all. I agree, there are plenty of great wines and great values out there that don’t make use of ‘list’ marketing and this particular channel. That said, I disagree with your implication that all of the above mentioned wines are a fungible commodity. IMHO, many of these offer a singular experience, and if you want that particular experience, winery direct is your only option unless your willing to source, and in many cases, pay escalation in the secondary market.
In skipping what I thought might be some tough lists to maintain, I’m getting a lot of “are you sure” follow up emails when I’ve taken a pass, even for the 2012s.
Carlisle is tough.
I got on Saxum within a couple years, but I think that was before a huge group signed on for the waiting list.
Epoch, Bedrock and Turley are easy.
I have been saxum wait list for five years, fortunate that i got afew thanks to a generous berserker
Kosta svd is around eight years, i waited three for normal list been on that for three years, last time i asked they said 4-6 years more for svd
I think pisoni estate pinot is quite difficult as well
So, if a ‘list’ means being able to buy the wine at the price it’s sold to the first buyers, I think few if any Calif wines are worth any real effort.
Here’s my list of wines worth an effort. They either come from the domaine or the direct importer at a 15% markup.
DRC
Roumier
Fourrier
Dujac
Meo (really just the Richebourg and Parantoux)
Rouget (Parantoux)
Mugnier
Leflaive (Chevalier and Montrachet)
Could be it…
Rochioli seems to still be 4+ years waiting list. I’ve been on the list since 10/10 and they told me I probably would not get an offer this year.
Of course Burgundy is the only wine worthy of any effort. Unless, of course, you have a completely unsophisticated palate, like I suppose I do.
Me too, Mike!
Even though I am a Burghead, the CA lists I won’t give up are Schrader, Lewelling, Drinkward-Peschon, Carlisle and Ovid.
I will gladly share my Pisoni, Hourglass, Lucia, Sea Smoke, Realm, etc.
I think Peter is talking about the financial benefit and ease of acquisition, rather than the where the wine comes from. Last I checked Peter drinks some heavy duty Rhones and has a Marcassin WTB on commerce corner - he’s the last guy to claim burg supremacy (and the idiotic insinuations by some that burg is more intellectual).
I would love a consistent and fair allocation of Roumier and Rouget!