California Cult Wines

The five most expensive wines in California

Harlan Estate in the hills outside of Oakville, Napa Valley. Harlan is one of the five most expensive wines from California and many would say it’s the best. Bottles can sell for well over $1000/bottle.

“Beer is made by men, wine by God.” ― Martin Luther

In the beginning

Strangely, the first time I saw Napa Valley, I didn’t go in at either end of the valley like normal people and tourists do. Instead, Tom Hobart did me a favor that has stayed with me the rest of my life.

Tom was the vineyard manager (and a good deal more) for Clos du Bois where we were both gainfully employed by Frank Woods at the time. He was driving the ghost of a pickup truck that had died several years before and remained more in memory than in fact.

But, against all reason there that truck was, jerking and jumping and bucking over the Mayacamas Mountains that divide Sonoma Valley from Napa Valley on the Oakville Grade Road. However, steep you’re imagining the Oakvillle Grade Road to be, it’s steeper than that.

The road is called a Grade instead of a Boulevard for a reason. It winds in cascading switchbacks down the Napa Valley side and into the little town of Oakville on the valley floor. So, as it happened, thanks to Tom, my first impression of Napa was spectacular.

Without my even knowing at the time, he drove us right into some of the greatest vineyards in the world.

California wineries’ new releases this spring

California’s great wines don’t release their vintages the same way as the great Bordeaux’s we talked about in the last issue. As far as I know, there are no famous restaurants in San Francisco that feature eels as their signature dish. Much less with glass bottom floors. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the seafood equivalent of the Bordeaux eels in San Francisco would be crabs.

And, while there have been a few wine brokers in San Francisco, they are not on the docks like in Bordeaux. Most wine brokers are in Napa or Sonoma, and they don’t have anything to do with the best wineries’ new releases like the brokers in Bordeaux do.

California wineries developed differently.

There are lots of reasons for this, but among the most important are the distribution system, the incredibly varied state liquor laws, and the lack of interest on the part of the winery owners to participate in a public market.

Owners of the best wineries in California mostly work through mailing lists. Wait lists for new releases can run 20 years or more just to get on the mailing list and be allowed to buy.

Some brokers and high end merchants exist that make up a secondary market. They are on the winery’s list and they buy the wine when it’s released or they buy it from somebody else who was on the list. Then they re-sell it to someone who may re-sell it again. You can find some of these bottles on the internet or through private collectors’ auctions.

Try here to start:

https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/screaming+eagle+cab+sauv+napa+valley+county+north+coast+california+usa/1/usa-ca-y

When you do find them, they will be expensive. Like Maserati expensive.

The Five Most Expensive Wines in California

https://californiawineryadvisor.com/most-expensive-california-wines/

All five of these wineries are in Napa Valley. Four of them are cabernets or cabernet blends. Sine Qua Non is a blend of several grapes, none of them cabernet. There are other cult wines in California but these are the five California Winery Advisor lists as the most expensive.

All of these have had 100 point wines as well as several 98-99 pts depending on the vintage. All have a waiting list that takes years to get on. None of these would normally be found in stores or restaurants. You can’t get into any of them unless you know somebody —really know somebody. Even celebrities’ requests to visit are regularly turned down.

Screaming Eagle ((www.screamingeagle.com))

The California Wine Advisor (https://californiawineryadvisor.com/most-expensive-california-wines/) says the best wine produced anywhere in the United States is Screaming Eagle near the very Oakville that, curiously enough, lies at the bottom of the Oakville Grade Road. Screaming Eagle only produces around 500 cases a year although the current owners are expanding by creating a cult wine in Santa Barbara and another in Burgundy, France.

Screaming Eagle is a small stone winery set on a hill that was originally founded and run for years by three women —which alone makes it unique. You can’t go there and it doesn’t even show up on maps. I know where it is because a vineyard manager took me there.

The one time I had it, it was spectacular. The 1995 vintage put them on the map (or, off the map actually I guess). Today if you found one of those bottles it would run $7000+. www.wine-searcher.com lists the 2003 (750ml bottle) at $3495 each on the secondary market. Excluding tax.

You can get on the waiting list here: www.sceamingeagle.com. Teach your children well, because it’s liable to be their children who can actually buy a case directly from the winery.

Harlan Estates (https://www.harlanestate.com)

There are lots of people who would turn red in the face and argue until they pass out that the best wine in California is Harlan Estate which is in the same general Oakville area, although in a different microclimate. Bill Harlan built the Meadowood Resort in Napa Valley, and then founded Harlan Estate Winery.

Don’t worry, you can’t go there either. It’s off to the right of the Oakville Grade where I crossed over with Tom Hobart and the geriatric pickup truck. It does show up on maps, but they won’t let you in. You might however, if you are wealthy enough, join his wine club and be invited to special events.

An absolutely transcendent wine.

Bryant Estate (www.https:https://bryant.estate/waiting-list/)

Bryant illustrates some of the problems with investing in expensive wines. These particular problems are unique to Bryant (which is an absolutely wonderful Cabernet). But, they are illustrative of the unforseen things that happen.

Turns out, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, the owner, Don Bryant developed Alzheimers. Bryant had borrowed $98.5 million from J.P Morgan Chase using his art collection and the winery as collateral.

It didn’t work out. Turned out, the winery had been somewhat overly optimistic about its financials. Also, sales were down 40% and there were a whole lot of cases in inventory that shouldn’t have been there.

Chaos ensued.

None of that has a single thing to do with whether the wine is any good or not. It’s all about money. And, if you have invested, it might be all about your money. Or, lack thereof.

Sine Qua Non (www.sinequanon.com) is a little different in that it is focused on French Rhone style (Syrah) wines instead of French Bordeaux style (Cabernet). They grow nine different kinds of grapes including Grenache, Mourvedra, and Roussanne which are varietals commonly used in the South of France. As of 2018 the waiting list for Sine Qua Non was 9 years.

Schrader (https://www.schradercellars.com) does a variation on the classic cabernet wines of Napa. They focus on 3 different clones of cabernet and strive to create wines exemplary of each clone. They, like the other four, sell only through their mailing list.

Bonus pick—Opus One (https://www.opusonewinery.com/)

The five wines above aren’t the only cult wines in California. I left Opus One out of the five because it is one which you can visit. Both the winery and the wines are as good or better than any winery in the world. Instead of 500-1000 cases though they produce around 25,000 cases which is about the same the great Bordeaux Chateaus. They are along the St. Helena Highway near Oakville and are open to the public.

Conclusion

Tom Hobart cooked a mean barbequed oyster. At a Clos du Bois shindig one night about midnight, he tracked me down sitting on the roof of Frank Woods’ house along Dry Creek, just to make sure I was included. I was lost in the stars and the creek and the vines, totally terrified of being completely in over my head.

Tom is gone now, taken too soon. He is missed.

Thanks for everything, Tom.