It’s no secret that Napa Valley is home to some of the priciest American wines. But there’s expensive Napa wine, and then there’s Screaming Eagle. Easily considered to be one of the world’s most sought-after wines, Screaming Eagle got its start in 1986 when founder Jean Phillips acquired a 57-acre vineyard in Napa’s prestigious Oakville sub-AVA. After selling grapes to other winemakers in the area for a few years, Phillips brought on winemaker Heidi Barrett to produce the first vintage of Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon in 1992.
Almost immediately after its release in 1995, the wine received a near-perfect 99-point score from wine critic Robert Parker. While the Cabernet was originally priced at $75, as hype continued to build, prices climbed with it.
Today, the only way to get your hands on a bottle is through the winery’s mailing list, which has a waiting list of 12 years to join. Through the winery’s direct-to-consumer sales, bottles retail for somewhere around $750, depending on vintage. For those not on the mailing list, they have to duke it out on the secondary market, where bottles soar into the thousands of dollars. According to Wine-Searcher, a bottle of Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon retails for an average $3,800, making it the third most expensive Napa Valley wine…