Cult wines

Cult wines are those for which dedicated groups of committed enthusiasts will pay large sums of money. Such wines include, for example, Screaming Eagle from California and Penfolds Grange from Australia, among many others.

Cult wines are often seen as trophy wines to be collected or as investment wine to be held rather than consumed. Because price is often seen as an indicator of quality, sellers may adopt a premium pricing strategy where high prices are used to increase the desirability of such wines. This is true even for less expensive wines. For example, one vintner explained that "on several occasions we have had difficulty selling wines at $75, but as soon as we raise the price to $125 they sell out and get put on allocation".

Other wines that fall under the title occasionally are from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhône and Italy.

These wines when scored highly by Robert Parker have had a tendency to increase in price resembling the Bordeaux investment market.

California cult wines refers to any of the California wines "typically but not exclusively Napa Valley Cabernets" for which collectors, investors and highly enthusiastic consumers will pay very high prices. The emergence of the cult movement coincided with trends in the 1990s towards riper fruit and wines with bigger and more concentrated flavors. The producers of such wines include Araujo Estates, Bryant Family Vineyard, Colgin Cellars, Dalla Valle Vineyards, Grace Family Vineyards, Harlan Estate, Schrader Cellars, Screaming Eagle and Sine Qua Non. All have scored 100 point scores from wine critics.

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