What Price Grape Juice?

They perch on the edge of their seats in auction rooms, paddles at the ready, waiting for a chance to bid on a bottle that will make them an instant celebrity in their social set.

The target here is a collectible--a rare, difficult-to-obtain wine. Collectors will pay ridiculous sums for these wines--at auctions, in wine shops and from other collectors. And some will even fly hundreds of miles to buy a case or two of something prized. Regardless of price, wine collectors slaver for bottles they can display for friends.

The operative word here is “display,” because frequently collectors buy these bottles not for consumption as much as for bragging rights.

Scarcity is what makes a good wine a collectible. When a wine is difficult to find, the price rises and a mystique develops. Often, the mystique surpasses the actual taste.

And, of course, what is considered collectible depends on where you’re collecting. In some parts of Macedonia, a locally famed sweet red wine is in great demand, though it isn’t even known elsewhere in Eastern Europe, let alone in France or California. Similarly, the hot, in-demand wines in California may not be familiar to those outside the state.

What follows is a list of collectibles that California wine fanatics would find on the local scene. The list below gives approximate price and a brief description of the wine.

Hard-to-Get Wines That People Do All Sorts of Crazy Things to Get

1. Le Montrachet, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, $500. One of the most sought-after wines in the world because the domaine’s 1 1/2-acre block in the heart of the Le Montrachet vineyard yields only 200 cases a year. This powerful, richly textured Chardonnay has immense flavor and long staying power.

2. Romanee-Conti, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, $600. Even though there is four times as much Romanee-Conti (800 cases), demand for it is even greater than for the preceding wine. So the price is higher, in some vintages reaching close to $1,000 a bottle. This 4 1/2-acre single-owner appellation controlee is located in the heart of Vosne-Romanee, north of the vineyard of La Tache. Though La Tache may be more concentrated in many vintages, Romanee-Conti is more sublime and complex.

3. Grace Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, $75. A great wine from a two-acre Napa Valley vineyard. The grapes are hand-sorted and the wine aged in new French oak barrels. It is concentrated but still elegant, with nuances of mint and cherry playing tag with toasty notes. Sold only to mailing-list customers (there’s a long waiting list). I love this wine. It is annually one of the top Cabernets in California and always has finesse. Tasting older vintages is rewarding, and younger wines appear to be even better. Special bottlings--such as magnums--fetch considerably more, commonly retailing for more than $1,000.

4. Bollinger “Vieilles Vignes,” $180. The greatest Champagne I ever tasted was the 1979 version of this Blanc de Noirs, and other vintages are always superb. Only 200 cases are produced, and then only in great vintages. No more than 50 cases of Vieilles Vignes are shipped to the United States. The current vintage is 1982.

5. Haut-Brion Blanc, $200. Chateau Haut-Brion makes a tiny quantity of this white wine based on Semillon grapes. It is one of the most sublime and complex wines I have ever tasted. Tasty when young, it ages handsomely for decades.

6. Cote-Rotie “La Turque,” “La Landonne” and “La Mouline,” E. Guigal, $200. In good vintages, Guigal’s powerful Syrah-based single-vineyard Cote-Roties are packed with black fruit flavors, and they age for decades. I occasionally find the wines astringent, and once in a while a bit of a horsey aroma creeps in.

7. Williams & Selyem Winery Pinot Noir “Rochioli Vineyard,” $45. Arguably the best Pinot Noir in America. Those on the winery’s mailing list send back order forms the day they get them. This wine is always great, loaded with strawberry and cinnamon and smoke from new French oak barrels. All Williams & Selyem Pinot Noirs are excellent, but the Rochioli is usually tops.

8. Chateau d’Yquem, $200. The famed dessert wine of Sauternes retains its pre-eminent position among collectibles. The honeyed pear and melon aroma of the young wine turns into caramel and vanilla with age. In good vintages, this wine leaps in price soon after it’s sold out in retail shops.

9. Echezeaux, Henri Jayer, $175, and Richebourg, Jean-Nicolas Meo-Camuzet, $200. These red wines from companion wineries are both exotically scented and lavishly flavored, making Burgundy lovers’ hearts go pit-a-pat. They are made in very limited quantities and are two of the most exciting Burgundies I have ever tasted, though I taste them infrequently.

10. Barbaresco “Sori Tilden,” “Sori San Lorenzo,” and “Costa Russi,” Angelo Gaja, $130. All of Gaja’s Barbarescos share immense flavor and concentration. These single-vineyard wines are even richer and more opulent, though tart when young. Italian wine fans consider these to be among the most long-lived of wines.

11. Leonetti Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon ($25). Winemaker Gary Figgins from Walla Walla, Wash., makes concentrated yet elegant Cabernets that are raspberry- and chocolate-scented. Dramatically fine wines.

12. Chateau Petrus, $450. The Moueix family produces only 3,000 cases of this Pomerol, which is always densely packed and powerful. I have enjoyed some older vintages, but when young the wine can be ruthlessly tannic. There is high demand for this wine, but not as much as in the past.

13. Romanee-St.-Vivant, Domaine Leroy, $300. Fewer than 250 cases are made each year of this spicy, racy red wine. It doesn’t have the cachet of the neighboring vineyards of the Domaine de la Romanee, but I’ve never tasted a wine with more concentration.

14. Sassicaia, $80. A Cabernet-based wine from the Tuscan coastal town of Bolgheri, it has powerful currant and cigar box aromas and a combination of intensity and elegance rare in red wines.

15. Quinta do Noval, “Nacional” ($150). Perhaps the most consistently powerful of all Ports, with racy fruit and dense, chewy, black cherry tastes.

Wines That Once Were Collectibles but Now Are on the Decline

1. Chateau-Grillet, $100. The white wine of the northern Rhone made from Viognier. The wine is tasty, but at this price people are discovering it’s more myth than taste, and that it doesn’t age very well.

2. Dominus, $45. A joint venture between the owners of the Napanook Vineyard near Yountville and Christian Moueix of Chateau Petrus, it has modest fruit and assaultive tannins. The first three vintages (1983-1985) sold well, but the tannins never subsided, so many collectors have backed off. Recent vintages are a bit less tannic, but the wine’s reputation precedes it.

3. Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, “Howell Mountain,” $50. Once the hottest red wine in the Napa Valley, this powerhouse, very tannic wine has become just another monster and now may be found more readily than in the past.

4. Heitz Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, “Martha’s Vineyard,” $60. At one time the most desired Cabernet in America and a truly great wine. But recent vintages have shown a mustiness that some collectors find a bit too assertive.

5. Vega Sicilia “Unico Reserva,” $100. This Tempranillo-based wine is aged a decade in wood. Bottles I’ve tasted have been a bit acidic and volatile. I can’t understand the interest in this wine, or the price. Americans are catching on: What few bottles are available in West Coast shops aren’t moving.

6. Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, “Cask 23,” $50. Once this was a great wine at a fair price, but as the price rose and quality dipped in the mid-1980s, collectors have bought less and less. The odd vegetal and smoke aromas that were found in some of the wines appear to have been eliminated recently, but demand is no longer as strong as it was.

7. Opus One, $60. There’s nothing wrong with this finely made red, a Bordeaux-styled blend, but there are so many similar wines on the market at lower prices that Opus One is no longer the darling of the snobs. Some shops are even discounting it.

8. Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon “Private Reserve,” $35. The only thing wrong with this wine is the price. At one time it was the unchallenged leader in California Cabernet, but quality has slipped; it now is little more than a good bottle of well-made red wine, not worth the tariff.

9. Dom Perignon, $100. Rarely a great wine, and produced in huge quantities (hundreds of thousands of cases a year), it is never worth this kind of money. How this wine ever reached star proportions escapes me.

10. Brunello di Montalcino, Biondi-Santi, $100. This Sangiovese-based wine is astringent enough to take the enamel off your teeth. Even aged bottles I’ve had retained their astringency.

11.-15. Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, Chateau Latour, Chateau Margaux, Chateau Haut-Brion, $90. Demand and quality remain high for these famed First Growth Bordeaux wines, but prices aren’t what they might be because there’s a lot more of them than there used to be. Not only has production skyrocketed, but many collectors who bought Bordeaux from the highly rated vintages of 1982, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1990 are tiring of the “rate race” and are selling some of their purchases at auctions.

Newcomers to the Collectibles List

1. Grange Hermitage, Penfolds, $80. In the last decade, this deeply complex Australian wine made largely from Shiraz has consistently shown itself to be as rich and rewarding as many top Bordeaux. I love the Grange when aged a decade or more; when young they can be a mouthful of tannin.

2. Solaia, $80. This Cabernet Sauvignon from the Tuscan hillsides, made by the Antinori family, is always lush and rich, not with the same power of many Bordeaux and California Cabernets but with great texture and long-lived fruit.

3. Silverado Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, “Limited Reserve,” $40. Just 1,000 cases a year are made, and it is a stunning example of great California Cabernet.

4. Chianti Classico Riserva, “Tenuta Marchese,” Antinori, $22. Annually a consistent, classically made, prototypical Chianti that ages nicely and rewards early consumption too.

5. Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, “Hillside Select,” $35. Graceful yet loaded with fruit and complexity, this Stag’s Leap-area winery has recently joined the ranks of the truly superior.

6. Gary Farrell Wines Pinot Noir, “Allen Vineyard,” $25. Those who can’t find the Williams & Selyem Pinot Noirs buy Farrell’s, made from fruit growing in the same Russian River soils.

7. Navarro Vineyards Late Harvest Riesling, “Cluster Select,” $30. These unctuously sweet wines are always balanced by wonderful acidity, so they are not cloying. The flavors are outrageous and the wines age handsomely. Made only in tiny amounts, these wines would be many times the price if they were made in Germany.

8. Tignanello, $33. A Sangiovese/Cabernet blend that tastes great young and ages beautifully, but for some reason hasn’t caught on as quickly as its all-Cabernet cousins, Solaia and Sassicaia.

9. Staglin Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, $24. An elegant, approachable, graceful wine with oodles of fruit. A producer just now gaining critical acclaim.

10. Le Montrachet, Ramonet, $250. Not as widely known as the Domaine de la Romanee’s version, but merchants tell me it’s in as much demand as any non-D.R.C. Montrachet.

11. Stony Hill Vineyard Chardonnay, $20. This once highly prized, delicate-style Chardonnay may be better than ever, but these days Americans seem more smitten by buttery scents and oaked flavors.

12. Barolo “Bussia,” Prunotto, $38. Very tart and astringent wine that seems to age wonderfully for a decade or two.

13. Hermitage “Le Pavillon,” M. Chapoutier, $110. Another potent Syrah-based wine has become a hit with a growing number of collectors.

14. Ornellaia, $35, and Masseto, $50, Lodovico Antinori. The former is a Cabernet, the latter a Merlot, both from southern Tuscany and both powerful wines.

15. Moraga Vineyards, Red Table Wine, $50. Tom V. Jones and his wife, Ruth, established a six-acre Cabernet vineyard in Moraga Canyon in the exclusive Bel-Air area and asked Napa Valley winemaker Tony Soter to make the wine. The first vintage, 1989, produced an intriguing wine, and collectors are already placing advance orders for the unreleased 1990, reportedly sensational.

Instantly Collectible?

1990 Matanzas Creek Winery Chardonnay, “Journey,” $70. This Sonoma County winery has announced the release of 200 cases of this special Chardonnay. The 18 best of the winery’s 700 Chardonnay barrels were given extra aging time. Then a final blend was made from the best nine barrels. Sold mostly outside of California, but available at the winery: (707) 528-6464.

1991 Aile d’Argent, Bordeaux Blanc, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, $60. A Semillon (48%) and Sauvignon Blanc (38%) blend whose name means “Silver Wing.” The wine was made from grapes grown on Mouton’s property in Pauillac. Only 700 six-packs were made, 100 of which will be sold in the United States. This is the first vintage of this wine, and even though few people have tasted it, demand already is high.

Has Anyone Ever Seen This Wine?

Barca Velha, A.A. Ferreira ($25). This is considered Portugal’s best dry red wine, made only in great vintage years. It is highly praised in some quarters, but in phone calls to a dozen wine merchants from here to New York, only two had ever even heard of the wine--Ed Masciana of the Wine Merchant in Beverly Hills and Mike Lynch of Pacific Wine Co. in San Francisco. Port importer Terry Bachman calls the wine “A real esoteric collectible. It is Port without the brandy and it needs more than a decade to come around.” Bachman believes no bottles exist on the West Coast.