The “cult wine” of yore still prevails. Priced in quadruple digits (or higher), released in scarce quantities, and scooped up by collectors who identify as Sotheby’s regulars, these bottles are often elusive and unattainable to all but a select few. Think: crates of Screaming Eagle, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, or Château Lafite — estates with centuries of pedigree bolstering their prestige (and…

Just as spirits nerds yearn for hard-to-find bottles to add to their collections, oenophiles will always pine over a suite of coveted bottles. Whether due to astronomical prices or low allocations, some wine pros catch onto these bottles simply because they are so unattainable. As a result, these wines develop a “cult” following, but the quality of the product isn’t necessarily what merits that…