Cult Wines on the Rise

What's the upside to the recession? Wine prices are on the decline! Especially among super-rare, super-wonderful "cult wines" that only release a few dozen cases each year. Since restaurants are seating less tables, they're bringing in less cash and subsequently spending less money on rare bottles of wine. Since no one is buying them, the prices are dropping . . . which means people are starting to buy them again! It's a wacky system, but in the end it could be a great thing for the consumer.

The LA Times has a long story on the topic, centering around a Master Sommelier who works at Disneyland's Napa Rose Restaurant in Anaheim - Michael Jordan (no relation to the basketball player). I've provided an excerpt of the article below, but you can follow the link to read the entire thing on The Times website.

For the dining public, that means that even though your dining dollar may have shrunk, you're probably getting more wine value with it than you have in the last three years. All of this leaves many sommeliers, on behalf of their guests, optimistic. "This may be the reshuffling of the deck that will stratify wine into prices that remain," Jordan says. "I think a whole lot of meals are going to taste a whole lot better."Despite industry-wide jitters, Southern California's best wine restaurants remain fairly busy, and though wine sales aren't exactly record-setting, they're much better than expected.