Cult wine = any wine William Gladstone is looking for in Commerce Corner.
A wine people who pronounce Porsche PORSH buy for status.
Agreed with many of the above posts,
I have an almost entirely negative association with the word, to me a cult wine is one whose price has been driven up by feverish demand (often driven by scores and low production), and just as irrational as a real ‘cult.’ But then again, there are small wineries that might fit those standards and not be called ‘cult’ and that to me indicates it is part of the critical racket.
Me to! 
From my perspective, there were a couple of brands you all have missed as cults before the above, even before Grace, its father figure, to be precise, the 1976 and 1978 Caymus SS (under 1000 cases and spent four years in Limousin oak). There was a huge demand, I could never have enough.
Diamond Creek had a fanatical following. The retail establishment I helped start in1982 sold more Diamond creek and any other entity in the US. Al loved us, we shipped to high end collectors in nearly every state and overseas = no FOB, he realized standard wholesale pricing letting us sell for him. Each release was a true feeding frenzy, especially for the mags and double mags.
We sold these at rather high prices for the time.
FWIW I’ve tended to view the QPR as the reverse of the OP’s perspective - Cult wines attracting interest beyond what you’d expect / their track record, with a sometimes illogical pursuit of them to be seen to be buying the ‘in’ wines, taking the price far in in excess of similar less sought after wines.
True, getting in before the cult really takes hold might get you a bargain (vs. the later price).
For me, Cult wines can be in a variety of styles, and sometimes wines of reasonably high production. The common thread being them seen as very much the wine to be buying, to be seen as the person with their finger on the pulse / with the inside track. A good few board darlings would count IMO, and very much not just from the US.
It’s an odd phrase though. How many of us would say “I’d love to be a member of a cult / cult follower”?
Regards
Ian
wasn’t Maya in the original cult list?
And from my perspective, neither of those were cults in the way that Grace, and to a lesser extent, Stony Hill, were at the time. I lived in northern CA from the early 70s to the mid 90s and visited Napa frequently. I bought Caymus SS starting with the '75 (its first release) at the winery, and eventually had a standing order, including multiple formats. Similarly, we could visit Diamond Creek during one of its summer “picnics”, order whatever wine we wanted, and usually “win” a chance to pick up some of the Lake bottlings. We bought DC in large format, up to 9 liters, in our kid’s birthyears, and it was as simple as asking for the bottles. Both were generally available at retail from many of the bay area retailers, too. I remember seeing stacks of Diamond Creek each release, including 3 bottle sets of mags and double mags, at Beltramo’s and my local market (Gene’s in Saratoga) got plenty of Caymus SS. Heck, one could buy Marcassin from John W at All Seasons for its first few releases.
Grace was an entirely different story. After RMP’s review of the '78 (yes, bottled by Caymus with a label very similar to the SS) - “Get on the mailing list now” - the only thing you could buy when visiting the Grace’s was mustard, or maybe a golf hat … no wine. If you saw a bottle in a store, it was in the locked display, and priced at multiples of the winery’s already high price.
As you stated you live in NORCAL and visited the wineries. I understand and appreciate your perspective.
Fewer folks were making the Napa pilgrimage in the early and mid 80’s. If you recall tastings were free and offered liberal pours. Collectors across America just wanted access and we had everything in depth, not just CA, but the top Burgs and First Growths from the prime vintages in case lots and five to ten vintages on hand of da kine, including the DRC stable, as per the catalog in my hand. We tried to stay ahead of the demands of wine lovers who found us.
Outside of Al’s striking distance in California, DC was not easy to find. We sold a large portion of his total production outside of CA, Al did not go for standard distribution channels.
We also sold Dick Grace’s wine, which he delivered, and as you know was tiny production at any price we wanted.
1975 -1984 Caymus SS was not widely accessible outside of the winery(1000 or less cases) and CA either. It was the 1984 Spectator recognition which launched the label nationally, but those following Parker craved the 76 and 78. Production went qbove 1000 cases in 1985 and exanded to tens of thousands of cases.
We could get Stony Hill by picking up the phone anytime, it did not have much of a following even though we listed it in our benchmark catalogues going to lots of high end buyers. Low demand, definitely did not have not a cult following. We had the 1976 -1987 Chard vertical. minus the 1985 on hand.
My perspective was national and international(mostly Japan for Cabs), so I respectfully disagree.
Would that just make it collectible as a category? …as opposed to cult. Cult makes me think of overzealous fanaticism based on an aura that is beyond the reality.
I have enjoyed Musar, and its solid, and grounded.
This is all just spit balling any how.
Clos des Briords. I blinked and missed out completely on the 2015.
Prieure Roche.
Defininition of a cult wine in my view. Very rare. Very rarely discussed. Frighteningly expensive because there are apparently a small legion of folks who will pay any amount for it.
I wouldn’t consider either of those “cult” wines.
Screaming Eagle, yes
I’m thinking more Harlan, Schrader, Sine Qua Non, Saxum, Sine Qua Non, Cayuse etc…
Sine Qua Non…YES but only their Shot in the Dark: 105 points on my scale ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Yep, Maya should definitely make the list.
Delete Shafer as cult, anyone can purchase Hillside on pre-release (I did last year without having any previous orders).
Add: Ultra Marine, Realm (Dr. Crane), Maybach, Tusk, Scarecrow, SNQ, & Macdonald
Possible adds: Hundred Acre, Marcassin & Cayuse (Bionic Frog & Impulsivo)
Yes, I think that’s fair. It may be produced on a very large scale, but it does inspire quasi-religious fanaticism in its dedicated acolytes (I count myself in their number).
Yes, it was. I knew I left one out.
20 years ago I described that and CRB as being cult wines if you belonged to the right cult.
To me a “cult” wine is when the “ego” component of price exceeds the “value” component by a large margin.
Other wines with cult status were the wines of Robert Denis and the Cuvée Busters.