CA Cult Criteria

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

Here’s a quote from Josh Raynolds re: Domaine Jamet:

““The superb Côte-Rôties from this 12.5-hectare domaine have become serious cult wines, with availability sparse and prices increasingly climbing upward.” — Josh Raynolds, Vinous”

Granted, not a CA winery, but otherwise germane to the conversation.

[Chris_Seiber]

Here’s a quote from Josh Raynolds re: Domaine Jamet:

““The superb Côte-Rôties from this 12.5-hectare domaine have become serious cult wines, with availability sparse and prices increasingly climbing upward.” — Josh Raynolds, Vinous”

Granted, not a CA winery, but otherwise germane to the conversation.

There are some differences as compared to the narrative for Harlan and wines like that, but it does seem like every month or two on here we read about a Northern Rhône, Barolo, Champagne, Burg etc where customers have whiplash about how that wine was $75-200 a few years ago and now is suddenly $400-2000 almost out of nowhere. I guess it’s just part of our world as wine lovers.

[tpetty]

Agree with a lot of what has already been said, but I think the #1 criteria has got to be the difficulty of getting the wine without paying multiples of release price, which it seems is roughly (granted, very roughly) equivalent to wait lists.

[Michael_S_Monie]

Here’s a quote from Josh Raynolds re: Domaine Jamet:

““The superb Côte-Rôties from this 12.5-hectare domaine have become serious cult wines, with availability sparse and prices increasingly climbing upward.” — Josh Raynolds, Vinous”

Granted, not a CA winery, but otherwise germane to the conversation.

There are some differences as compared to the narrative for Harlan and wines like that, but it does seem like every month or two on here we read about a Northern Rhône, Barolo, Champagne, Burg etc where customers have whiplash about how that wine was $75-200 a few years ago and now is suddenly $400-2000 almost out of nowhere. I guess it’s just part of our world as wine lovers.

I guess Cedric Bouchard is on its way to cultdom.

[Tyler_F]

1. Small production
2. Long waitlist
3. Price to on-list customers is fair
4. Price on the secondary market is magnitudes higher
5. Quality matters less than number 1-4

SQN, S.E., Macdonald, Ultramarine, Scarecrow all seem to fit the bill.

When number 3 and 4 converge and the secondary market is flooded, you lose cult status and just become an expensive wine. Looking at you Harlan.

Scarecrow doesn’t fit 3 or 4 anymore.

I guess you have to define “fair” and “magnitudes higher.” Current release of Scarecrow is $500 a bottle but people have reported already receiving $1000 a bottle offers from Vinfolio and local shops on this forum. Clearly a cult cab IMO.

From what I’ve seen, most shops are buying around $1900-2000 for the 3-pack. After shipping, you’re making $75-100/bottle? I don’t disagree it’s cult, I just don’t think #4 is a defining characteristic

FWIW, I haven’t seen $1000/bottle anywhere, including this forum. I may be wrong, but given how many people are giving these up at cost, I can’t imagine they are willingly leaving $1k+ on the table for a few hours worth of work.

[David_Bu3ker]

Here’s a quote from Josh Raynolds re: Domaine Jamet:

““The superb Côte-Rôties from this 12.5-hectare domaine have become serious cult wines, with availability sparse and prices increasingly climbing upward.” — Josh Raynolds, Vinous”

Granted, not a CA winery, but otherwise germane to the conversation.

There are some differences as compared to the narrative for Harlan and wines like that, but it does seem like every month or two on here we read about a Northern Rhône, Barolo, Champagne, Burg etc where customers have whiplash about how that wine was $75-200 a few years ago and now is suddenly $400-2000 almost out of nowhere. I guess it’s just part of our world as wine lovers.

I guess Cedric Bouchard is on its way to cultdom.

But not a CA wine. Maybe read the thread title.

[Michael_S_Monie]

Scarecrow doesn’t fit 3 or 4 anymore.

I guess you have to define “fair” and “magnitudes higher.” Current release of Scarecrow is $500 a bottle but people have reported already receiving $1000 a bottle offers from Vinfolio and local shops on this forum. Clearly a cult cab IMO.

From what I’ve seen, most shops are buying around $1900-2000 for the 3-pack. After shipping, you’re making $75-100/bottle? I don’t disagree it’s cult, I just don’t think #4 is a defining characteristic

FWIW, I haven’t seen $1000/bottle anywhere, including this forum. I may be wrong, but given how many people are giving these up at cost, I can’t imagine they are willingly leaving $1k+ on the table for a few hours worth of work.

Jmigliano
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Re: 2019 scarecrow release protocol
Quote
#129 Post by Jmigliano » February 28th, 2022, 12:39 pm

Got an offer from Vinfolio for $999/btl wow.
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[R_Frankel]

Tom published his piece. Maybe he’ll share it here with us for grins. No huge surprises but he did say that he found forty wineries that qualified for his ‘California Cult’ criteria. I’d love to see that list!

[Bob_Hoelting]

Wine isn’t the only thing in California to get cult status… look at our gas prices