Magazine Sep-Oct 2016

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? 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. It has been statistically proven that history favors the grand chateaus of Bordeaux.

‘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. 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. Personally, I think that this is largely a result of excellent marketing – creating demand is easier than creating supply.

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 $399.00 $332.00 $529.00 $429.00 $302.00 $369.00 $445.00 $450.00 $460.00

Blankiet Estate Paradise Hills Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Blankiet Estate Paradise Hills Vineyard Rive Droite

2005 2003 2006

Coglin Cellars IX Estate Red

Kapcsandy Family Winery State Lane Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Notre Vin Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain

2003

Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley 2006

Sine Qua Non Stein (Grenache) Sine Qua Non Stock (Syrah) Sine Qua Non Dark Blossom (Syrah)

2012 2012 2011

Screaming Eagle prices available upon request.

34 THE AMERICAN CLUB SEP / OCT 2016