California Perspective

When I started in the auction world three decades ago, limited-production, mailing-list only wines were first emerging, quickly gaining a reputation that sent auction prices soaring and collectors offering up their first-borns for a coveted place on an exclusive list. Many other wineries took to this model, and with so many wines on offer, it became confusing what exactly constituted a true “cult” wine, as every producer seemed to be offering a mailing-list-only experience.

Classic Californian wines took a back seat during the cult era and soldiered on, staying true to their goals of creating nuanced, age-worthy wines, all the while looking like an excellent value. Within the last few years, we’ve seen a healthy balance emerge between chasing the cults and embracing the classics, and the best cults can now be considered journeymen collectibles as well. We are lucky to have both at a range of price points and we’ve curated this list to include a selection with some age on them – ready to stock your cellar for near-term drinking this fall!

Highlights include: 6 vintages of Abreu’s luscious Madrona Ranch, the flagship offering from one of the original cult masters; recent and aged vintages of Bryant Family including the rare 2-barrels-produced Cab Franc; Schrader’s highly-rated, now-classic interpretations of the Beckstoffer vineyards, a range of always-stellar Dominus from 2008-2019 and Opus One spanning 1993-2015; aged Dunn, Peter Michael, and Joseph Phelps; multiple vintages of Harlan; and perhaps the hardest velvet rope to cross: Screaming Eagle.