Sonoma County Cult Wines

I'm not a big fan of the term "cult wine." The term is usually applied to Napa cabernet that is sought after, gets big points from the reviewers, is expensive, and hard to get. I'll take a shot at naming a few of the wines that some idolize and geek out over that come from Sonoma County. Generally, the ones listed below from Sonoma aren't quite so pricey and aren't even cabernet. Many of these, however, are sold by mailing list meaning you sign up and they'll "let" you buy a certain number of bottles per year.

Nothing fancy here, except the wines

Aubert Wines Chardonnay
Makes at least a half-dozen chardonnays each year and clearly fit the cult mode as they are expensive, hard to get, and consistently highly-rated.

Arnot-Roberts Syrah
Cool climate Sonoma Coast wine made in a restrained style with lower alcohol levels than typically found in California wines. The nice thing about this one as it's not that expensive.

Bedrock Syrah
The winery is much talked about with wine geeks. You can find their North Coast syrah in stores. The vineyard designate ones are by mailing list.

Dehlinger Pinot Noir
Tom Dehlinger was one of the earliest Russian River winemakers to get pinot noir dialed in. You can occasionally find some of the less expensive ones in retail outlets. The good stuff goes to the mailing list customers.

Hanzell Chardonnay
Old school style chardonnay from before the "invention" of the buttery, oaky, tropical fruit ones. Here you'll find restrained fruit flavor and (OMG!) minerality. You can actually visit and purchase wine from Hanzell so maybe this one doesn't quite fit the definition of cult wine, but their long-standing reputation and limited production put them on this list.

Kistler Chardonnay
Perhaps the first cult chardonnay from Sonoma County and always one of the more expensive ones. They now make quite a few different chards -- probably trying to keep up with the demand.

Kosta Brown Pinot Noir
Many different and expensive pinots sold via mailing list. They have quite a following with the wine geeks that like fruit-forward styles. Supposedly, they are backing off on the ripeness and going for a bit more elegance (and will no doubt lose some followers).

Joseph Swan Pinot Noir
The granddaddy of Sonoma cult pinot noir and one of the first pinot producers in the area. They even have a tasting room so I guess they're not totally cult, but most of their wines are hard to find.

Marcassin Chardonnay
Helen Turley put her hand on this one then Robert Parker (a Turley fan) gave it a perfect score of 100 points. So this is a good "show-off" wine to have with your wine geeky friends if you can find it.

Paul Hobbs Chard/Pinot/Cab
A cult winemaker, I suppose. Sold by mailing list, but per the website you can request a tasting appointment that may or may not be granted. Hobbs has a lot of achievements to his name. Being a friend to local rules and regulations isn't one of them. So if you like bad boy wines maybe this is for you.

Rochioli Pinot Noir
Another early Russian River pinot pioneer. Some of their wines are available for purchase, but the "fancy" ones are mailing list only. This is one pinot that I've loved for a long time and am disappointed that I can't just walk in and buy it any more (and at a reasonable price). A few other wineries get fruit from the Rochioli Vineyard so you can look for these wines, also.

Williams Selyem Pinot Noir
Maybe the most well-known small production pinots from California. Yep, another mailing list pinot producer.

Rochioli vineyards in the Russian River Valley
image from rochioliwinery.com