The Top 10 California Wines to Collect Right Now

It’s almost fifty years after the Judgement of Paris and no one needs to be convinced that California wine is good, largely great, often excellent and, with a bit of age, otherworldly. And the secondary market has caught on. Blue-chip California bottles will frequently command three, four or five-digit sums on the secondary market.

Liv-ex, the global marketplace for the wine trade, has been tracking California’s ascension in the collectible space. Sales are surging in major auction houses, rare wine outlets and on the San Francisco-based Vinfolio trading and cellar-management platform.

Unfortunately, this means that access to many of these bottles is limited. Top producers call for years of commitment to waitlists and membership before the opportunity to buy is even presented.

“Wineries that have established themselves as the most desirable have built a following that increases their value,” says writer, educator and Wine Enthusiast Writer-at-Large Elaine Chukan Brown. “For many, the hunt is also part of the allure.”

To fully consider the state of California collectibles, we gathered secondary-market data on dozens of wines to deduce the most iconic California bottlings today. We considered wines whose first vintage was at least 15 years ago, those widely regarded to hold or improve in quality with time, ones traded most frequently in the U.S. and abroad as well as bottlings with high price appreciation, calculated by comparing release prices and future resale figures compiled by Liv-ex.

While this list showcases the opportunities of aging, keep an eye on a new guard already commanding high prices. At the 2024 Premiere Napa Valley, the top ticket of the day ($70,000 for six cases) was from Fairest Creature, a just-launched project from an Avengers-esque winemaking team of Michel Rolland, Benoit Touquette, Philippe Melka and Thomas Rivers Brown. Rutherford’s Alpha Omega, organically-farmed Spottswoode and Stag’s Leaps’ Shafer also earned impressive prices. Eyes are even on Napa’s sparkling—Schramsberg’s late-disgorged 1998 sold for $467 a bottle.

Curious to learn more about the state’s top 10 blue-chip bottles? Here’s your guide, ranked by the average rate of their ten-year appreciation.

10. Screaming Eagle, Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon

Appellation: Oakville
First Vintage: 1992
Current Release: 2021 ($3,000/bottle, case count undisclosed)
Current Winemaker: Nick Gislason
Average Recent Market Bottle Prices: $30,600 (2009); $7,344 (2010); $27,600 (2011)
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 73%

Screaming Eagle has become synonymous with California collectibles, largely based on its secondary market value, average price appreciation and its elusive accessibility. As the story goes, real estate agent Jean Phillips bought a vineyard along the eastern edge of Napa Valley’s Oakville appellation in 1986. She brought on Heidi Barrett to usher wines out from the land, and Screaming Eagle’s signature sleek bottle and striking wines quickly wooed the wine world.

“It’s undisputedly the top California collectible wine, and by projection, the top collectible wine in the New World,” says Parker. “It’s held onto this position in the face of all newcomers through its attention to subtle quality, site superiority and scarcity.”

In 2006, businessman Stan Kroenke, owner of the Denver Nuggets basketball team, purchased the property and helped expand vineyards and increase production—from 200 cases to up to 800 per year. Nick Gislason continues to oversee the winemaking decisions.

Today, Screaming Eagle produces three wines per vintage: Cabernet Sauvignon, The Flight and Sauvignon Blanc. All are sold directly to the wine club’s tightly-managed wine list, which notoriously has a decades-long wait time, adding to its allure among collectors.

“The difficulty of visiting the estate and the exclusivity of the wines have made it a coveted enigma,” says Chukan Brown. “But the quality of the wines themselves remains the basis for its desirability.”

(Pro top: If you can’t crack the list, Kroenke also owns The Hilt in Santa Rita Hills and Jonata in Ballard Canyon.)

9. Caymus, Napa Valley Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon

Appellation: Napa Valley
First Vintage: 1972
Current Release: 2019 ($225/bottle, 65,000 cases)
Current Winemaker: Chuck Wagner
Average Recent Market Bottle Prices: $2,306 (2022); $2,710 (2006)
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 78%

Founder Chuck Wagner’s grandfather emigrated from Alsace to the United States in 1906. Upon landing, he promptly purchased land, planted grapes and started making wine in the Napa Valley. Prohibition ended the project, but the family held onto the land. In the 1960s, Chuck’s father Charlie started replanting vines and by 1975, Chuck and Charlie’s Cabernet Sauvignon was gaining attention.

In the 52 years since Caymus was founded, the brand has left a substantial footprint on the wine world. Its core Cabernet Sauvignon has helped stylistically define Napa Cabernet. Caymus has expanded to include Conundrum, Mer Soleil and Caymus-Suisun, and now produces over a million cases annually across the portfolio. Through it all, the Special Selection has remained relatively unchanged.

“It’s a classic Napa Cabernet of the highest caliber,” says Parker. “It’s been a key collectible for many decades.”

8. Robert Mondavi Winery, Oakville The Estates Cabernet Sauvignon

Appellation: Oakville
First Vintage: 1971
Current Release: 2019 ($105/bottle, 13,500 cases)
Current Winemaker: Geneviève Janssens
Average Recent Market Bottle Prices: $873 (1997)
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 109%

Mondavi is a titan of the wine world, and it’s little surprise that his wines continue to garner high prices on the secondary market. Mondavi began to make Cabernet in the winery’s inaugural vintage of 1966, and the “Reserve” term started with the 1971 vintage. The secret ingredient is grapes from the famed and subdivided To Kalon property, where the winery is currently under reconstruction. The To Kalon Reserve Cabernet is a showpiece of the portfolio, while the Oakville The Estates Cabernet is accessibly-priced and enticing for new collectors.

7. Scarecrow, Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon

Appellation: Rutherford
First Vintage: 2003
Current Release: 2021 ($600/bottle, 1,600 cases)
Current Winemaker: Celia Welch
Average Recent Market Bottle Prices: $13,200 (2007), $8,000 (2008), $7,980 (2011)
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 122%

MGM Chief of Production J.J. Cohn, who had been instrumental in making The Wizard of Oz, wasn’t a wine person. But in 1945, his neighbor, winemaker John Daniel Jr. of Inglenook, convinced him to plant 80 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon vines on the Inglenook property, on the west side of the famed Rutherford appellation of Napa Valley.

For decades, the Scarecrow estate supplied grapes for classic Cabernets from Inglenook, Niebaum-Coppola, Opus One and Joseph Phelps Insignia—other wines that garnered sky-high praise and prices. But when Cohn’s grandson, photographer Bret Lopez, who was into wine, inherited his grandfather’s home and vineyard in the early 2000’s, he went on to make his own highly lauded wines.

These vines are still some of the oldest in all of North America. The name “Scarecrow?” A nod to his grandfather’s iconic film.

6. Dominus, Napa Valley

Appellation: Napa Valley
First Vintage: 1983
Current Release: 2021 ($360/bottle, 3,700 cases)
Current Winemaker: Tod Mostero
Average Recent Market Bottle Prices: $2,396 (2006); $2,220 (2009); $2,800 (2010)
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 123%

In the 1960s, Bordeaux-bred Christian Moueix (whose family’s assets include a humble Pomerol wine estate by the name of Château Pétrus) moved to California to study at the University of California, Davis. He was enamored, and that love ushered him to open a minimalist stone winery in Yountville, right beside the historic Napanook vineyard.

Ever since, the brand has consistently released one of the most long-lived and classically-styled wines in California, mostly from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Moueix’s Bordeaux-Napa roots make Dominus (and its sister wine Napanook) highly sought out by collectors of both regions.

“The dedication to a specific vision and the distinctiveness of the wine has made it one of the most admired wineries in the world,” says Chukan Brown. “It ages beautifully and its uniqueness is consistently alluring.”

5. La Jota Vineyard Co, Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

Appellation: Howell Mountain
First Vintage: 1982
Current Release: 2019 ($175/bottle, 6,967 cases)
Current Winemaker: Chris Carpenter
Average Recent Market Bottle Prices: $1,236 (2010)
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 132%

Ascend up from Napa’s valley floor and into the redwood forests of the Vaca Mountains, where winemaker Chris Carpenter holds court in the Howell Mountain range. The property was first established in 1898 by the Swiss-bred Frederick Hess, who purchased the 327-acre Rancho La Jota as part of a Mexican land grant and cultivated it with European vinifera. Prohibition nixed the winery, and a number of ghost wineries squatted on the property until in 1972, when businessman Bill Smith acquired it Jess Jackson—of the Jackson Family—took over in 2005.

Carpenter, who also oversees Lokoya, Mt. Brave and Cardinale, uses the historic estate to explore the complexities of remote mountain fruit. One of the quieter of California’s collectible wines, its prices are dictated by the viticultural demands—vineyards are wild, isolated and low-yielding—but also the intimate, exclusive and remote production.

4. Chateau Montelena, Calistoga The Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

Appellation: Calistoga
First Vintage: 1972
Current Release: 2019 ($200/bottle, 5,000 cases)
Current Winemaker: Matt Crafton
Average Recent Market Bottle Prices: $1,900 (2004)
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 132%

In 1976, the Judgement of Paris–which squared up the finest French wines against the best of America—propelled California wines to stardom. The greatest upset was the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, made by Mike Grgich, which earned the highest total score of all the wines in the competition.

Chateau Montelena began in the late 1960s, when Jim Barrett, a young attorney, paired up with businessman Earnest J. Hahn to purchase the Calistoga estate. Just a few years into taking over the property and finding their footing, Montelena swept the Judgement of Paris. Almost 50 years later, the property is run by Jim’s son Bo and led by winemaker Matt Crafton but largely maintains the pedigree from its famed win.

3. Harlan Estate Napa Valley

Appellation: Napa Valley
First Vintage: 1990
Current Release: 2021 (Estimated $1,300/bottle, case count undisclosed)
Current Winemaker: Cory Empting
Average Recent Market Bottle Prices: $3,300 (2000); $10,200 (2005); $12,450 (2010)
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 132%

William Harlan spent the early part of his career as a professional poker player. As such, he has a savvy sense of betting smart. He started his career building a real estate empire, then—after attending the opening day of Robert Mondavi’s winery–he set his sights on wine. In 1984, he chose a hilly enclave in Napa Valley’s Oakville district that overlooked the famed To Kalon vineyard. Safe to say, it was a success, and the Harlan Estate wines are currently highly prized and tightly allocated, as are the wines of Bond, Promontory and access to the members-only club Napa Valley Reserve, which Harlan also oversees.

“Harlan famously says he started the estate with a 200-year business plan,” says Chukan Brown. “He’s succeeded at creating thoughtful relationships with its wine lovers based on the same long-term view the team brings to every decision for the estate.”

2. Ridge, Santa Cruz Mountains California Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello

Appellation: Santa Cruz Mountains
First Vintage: 1962
Current Release: 2021 ($245/bottle, 3,063 cases)
Current Winemaker: Trester Goetting
Average Recent Market Bottle Prices: $2,150 (2010); $1,950 (2012); $3,000 (2013)
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 134%

Ridge is an outlier in the world of California collectibles. The home property isn’t located in the Napa Valley, for one. It’s a pilgrimage to get to: Visitors take switchback roads through the Santa Cruz Mountains to reach the estate, which sits between 1,300 and 2,700 feet above sea level. That elevation has defined Ridge’s wines—they’re firmly structured, intricate and famously known for ageability.

“Monte Bello’s ability to improve with age is almost unparalleled,” says Chukan Brown. “It’s impressive in its youth, but older Monte Bello is a pleasure. It’s one of the clearest examples of why fine wine benefits from aging.”

David Parker, founder of Benchmark Wine Group, one of the largest buyers of fine and rare wine, nods to Ridge’s “genius winemaking,” which, he says, has made it one of “the most respected classic Cabernet in California.”

As the state’s viticulture continues to mature, regions like Santa Cruz are holding more allure for collectors. “In the future, we’ll see more wines from other parts of California stepping into top choice spots for collectors,” says Chukan Brown.

1. Diamond Creek, Napa Valley Gravelly Meadow

Appellation: Diamond Mountain
First Vintage: 1972
Current Release: 2019 ($385/bottle, 338 9-liter cases)
Current Winemaker: Graham Wehmeier
Average Recent Market Bottle Prices: $2,830 (1999)
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 136%

In the 1960s, Adelle “Boots” Sternback met Al Brounstein, a pharmaceutical wholesaler. He was a wine fan, she was smitten. They married in 1967, then purchased a 70-acre estate on Diamond Mountain and planted three vineyards: Red Rock Terrace, Volcanic Hill and Gravelly Meadow. As the brand grew, the Brounstein’s operations stayed tightly boutique, dedicated to pioneering the concept of vineyard-designated wines—which helped them produce the first wine in California to sell for over $100 a bottle.

All three vineyards are renowned for making exacting and expressive single-vineyard wines (Chukan Brown calls them “the holy trilogy”) but the Gravelly Meadow has ascended in collector’s eyes.

“Gravelly Meadow is perhaps the most crowd-pleasing of the three,” says Chukan Brown. (Of note, the winery sold in 2020 after the passing of Boots, but the property landed in good hands: the Roederer Group, which also own cult producer Merry Edwards.)

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Five Musts for Successful Cellaring

Whether you choose to enjoy or resell, collectible wine is an investment. To protect that investment, it’s necessary to store your wine under the best conditions. These are the five conditions to ensure proper cellaring.

1. Keep it cool. Storage at or near 55˚F is optimal to ensure slow, patient maturation of the wine.

2. Mind the moisture. If the space is too humid, the labels can mildew. Too dry? Air space in the bottles (called “ullage”) will increase too fast over time.

3. Go dark. Light can penetrate clear glass wine bottles and affect the wine.

4. Do not disturb. Don’t store bottles where strong vibrations or frequent changes of position will stir the wine inside.

5. Take note. Keep accurate records of your purchases to show good provenance for eventual resale, or simply to remind yourself just how well you planned.

Where to Score Old Beauties

The best way to buy new vintages of the top collectibles is to sign up for direct purchases via winery websites. Be warned, however, that this can involve spending years on a waiting list.

More immediate gratification can be had by bidding on older vintages at the U.S. auction houses of Sotheby’s, Zachys, Christie’s and Acker Merrall & Condit in New York City; Hart Davis Hart in Chicago; and Heritage, Bonhams, Spectrum and Zachys in California. Virtual bidding is another option, and WineBid and Heritage Auctions conduct online auctions.

Collectors buy, store and sell wines through Vinfolio, while Liv-ex is a unique resource for the global wine trade that allows them to price, source and sell wine . And Wine-Searcher gives instant, specific retail prices on virtually any wine, as well as links to the stores that sell it.

For past vintages of top collectibles, Wine.com often has a few in stock. Finally, most major U.S. cities have at least one or two fine wine shops that carry California collectibles, so it’s smart to meet your local retailers, too.

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Last Updated: July 11, 2024