Steve Heimoff recently linked to my California Cult Wine Release Schedule post, and I need to take the time and space to clear up a couple of his readers' comments. For one, it should be noted that I included a New York winery on the list, Shinn Vineyards, which makes some of the best (and biodynamically farmed) wine on the North Fork of Long Island. It costs about $34 as a future. I even paraphrased Shinn's proprietor, David Page, at the bottom of my post, to underline the fact that the phenomenon of the "cult" wine is a creation of Madison avenue executives.
Second - and this is really the most important thing - the list is for informational purposes. For example: You can’t remember when your Araujo allocation is supposed to come out, and you don’t want to go through your credit card receipts or cancelled checks to figure it out. Well, google "SLAKED Cult Wine" and there you go.
As for the question of whether you want to remember Araujo's release date because you’re a “pinhead” obsessed with “greed and self image” ... well, that’s your own problem. Of course, another perfectly valid reason might be, for example, because you just really happen to like their wine. Araujo, after all, makes some damned fine wine....
I did not nor do I intend to classify wines into what is and what is not a cult wine. The question of what is and what is not a cult wine is purely subjective (and not one I am inclined to consider). What I did intend to do was let buyers know when these wines had been released in the past. Let's say you plan on only buying Harlan and BOND this year because that's what your wine budget allows. Well, now you will be happy to know that Harlan comes out in the fall and BOND in the winter, and you can budget accordingly.
It would be impossible (and foolish) for anyone to try to refute any given buyer’s subjective determination that, say, OVID, is a cult wine, despite the fact that you can buy it for less than double its release price. (Okay, there are exceptions to this; Two Buck Chuck = Cult Wine? Probably not. But generally, I stand by this position.) Mr. Washam HMW’s argument to the contrary is not convincing. Why does the HoseMaster get to decide for the rest of the world that OVID will only qualify for “cult” status when you can purchase it for double release on WineCommune? That’s just his opinion, it’s a purely subjective opinion, and it’s (probably) wrong.
Mr. Leslie’s point that Paloma did not make my list, despite being named wine of the year by Wine Spectator, because it only costs $54, is comical as well. I didn’t put Paloma on my list because I don’t really like the wine, I don’t follow the winery, and I don’t care how many gold stars it received from James Laube. That said - in retrospect - Paloma should probably go on the list, because the list is for others, as well as myself, so if Morton would be kind of enough to comment on my blog and let me know Paloma’s release date, then I will be more than happy to add it to my list, and I’ll even post my top secret recipe for peacock tongue. "Mmmmm ... peacock tongue."
Steve also raised a number of bigger questions with respect to any list list of "cult" wines, and I address those, below:
“How does a winery get on the cult wine list?” The wineries that made my list are pretty much all the wines that I know of that send me emails or letters telling me when they are releasing their wines. For purposes of the list, I didn’t discriminate at all. That said, if I have never bought wine from a specific winery (e.g. Paloma), and I don’t get their correspondence, they probably didn’t make the list. Alban Vineyards didn’t make my list – not because it doesn’t have the status – but because I am still on the damned wait list, as they like to remind me every winter when they send me a postcard that reads, "NO WINE FOR YOU!"
“What keeps a wine off it?” See above.
“Can you buy your way onto it?” I have never received money or anything else of value from a winery - it tends to work the other way around - but I have received a few samples from wineries, and I would accept samples from wineries, if offered. Does that mean they make the list? I’ll tell you when it happens….
“How do you stay on it once you’re on?” Keep sending me emails letting me know when the wine comes out.
“Is the list meaningful?” The list is informational, nothing more. If information is meaningful, and I propose it is, then yes, the list is meaningful.
“Do millenials and younger wine lovers care?” I don’t understand the question. “Care” about what? Are you rephrasing the question above?
“How will the list change in 5 years?” It will probably grow. The wines on this list are all (generally) high quality wines. So for the wine industry’s own good, the list will grow.
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