Comments on: Screaming Eagle sauvignon blanc fetches $2,500 a bottle

By: gabe

gabe — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 00:54:04 +0000

Well, I can’t argue against $250 for a Napa Valley Sauv Blanc being ridiculous.

But it does seem like Screaming Eagle was a little embarrassed by the huge resale price, and the attention it received. That shows that they have something resembling humility.

I am curious how these cult wines got their cult status in the first place. Was it magazine scores? Supply and demand? I would love to read a blog post about that sometime…

As always, thanks for all the great content.

-Gabe

By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 01:18:33 +0000

Gabe -

No, I read about it on wine-searcher, linked to it, and included the final price in my piece since theirs ran before the hammer fell.

As to Alder’s point that Kroenke et al. deserve praise for further reducing the availability of this wine, I beg to differ. Fewer bottles, ceteris paribus, would mean *higher* prices. $250 ex-cellars for a half barrel aged, partial malo, California SB planted in 2006 seems, as many have pointed out here, quite steep already. They might well use these few sales north of $2,000 to justify increasing the ex-cellar price further. If they want to combat fraud, they should call Laurent Ponsot for the latest technology and strategy.

By: gabe

gabe — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 23:59:47 +0000

Hey Dr. V,

Did you read about this wine on vinography?

http://www.vinography.com/archives/2012/06/should_wineries_care_about_the.html

I might have to give credit to Screaming Eagle for being decent human beings after all

By: Samuel Gendron

Samuel Gendron — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 16:33:52 +0000

1 btle of sauv bl from Screaming eagle ou 3-4 cases of Cotat, Vatan or Boulay… I’m not quite sure what i would choose…Hahahahahaha!!!!

By: Gerry Dawes

Gerry Dawes — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 02:41:27 +0000

Very simple, have someone pay $13,000 for six bottles of this wine at “auction” and suddenly the price of the remainder of those bottles triples and bottles of the next vintage come out at $1,000 a bottle. Cult wines like this are like Hummel figurines. They have nothing to do with wine.

By: gabe

gabe — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 23:52:24 +0000

my girlfriend saw this headline, and asked me why that bottle cost so much. the best answer i could come up with was, “some people like things that are expensive, and that makes them more expensive”.
at least there is a reason why vintage champagne or first-growth bordeaux are so expensive. this just seems idiotic to me.

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:52:29 +0000

…you have just contributed to the plague that affects so much of the goodness of wine enthusiasm! Don’t spill any:-)

By: Joe Buchter

Joe Buchter — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:38:41 +0000

good luck squeezing $2500 worth of satisfaction out of every single bottle. At about $100 per ounce, that shouldn’t be too hard…

By: Kris Chislett

Kris Chislett — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 00:37:38 +0000

Hey, good for them! If people are willing to pay that kind of price, have at it!

By: Damien

Damien — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 20:05:56 +0000

A wise purchase sir! I’d love to buy you a glass of the same. Perhaps you’d me me in Brooklyn and I can show you the bridge that I am offering for sale?

By: Dave Erickson

Dave Erickson — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 01:13:34 +0000

Jeez, even Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fume Asteroide doesn’t go for more than $700.

By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 14:17:29 +0000

PS John – if you do review any sauvignon blanc again from anywhere, you can point out what a relative bargain it is, e.g. “…and a terrific value priced at $2,425 less than the Screaming Eagle SB.” or “buy 15 cases of this Sancerre for the price of one Screagle SB.”

By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 14:10:55 +0000

John G – Do you really think that Napa is the place best suited to sauvignon blanc to have it gain more respect? Also, I wonder if this Screagle version sees time in new wood, a la fumé blanc? Do you really think it is underrated? On it’s own it is far more often underwhelming imho. Also, the most expensive renditions are mostly Bordeaux blanc, and there it’s arguably the semillon that adds the intrigue…

Bob Rossi – exactly!

Whitney – hard to keep all those sauvignons straight!

By: Chuck Antonio

Chuck Antonio — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 17:21:05 +0000

— quit trying to be a prima-donna and just enjoy a good wine like the rest of us.

By: Mike G

Mike G — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 16:12:38 +0000

I have a bottle of Pinot Sauvignon Petite Blanc that I would part with for a cool grand or a bridge in Florida … Your choice.