It turned out to have a small block of exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon. Real estate agent Jean Phillips bought a vineyard along the eastern edge of Napa Valley’s Oakville appellation in 1986. The story of its beginning has been told many times. Screaming Eagle is the most collectible California wine, based on its secondary market value and average price appreciation. Clockwise from L: Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon, Dominus, Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon 1. Read on to discover the state’s top 10 blue-chip bottles, ranked by the average rate of their six-year appreciation. and abroad, and bottlings with high price appreciation, calculated by comparing release prices and future resale figures compiled by Liv-ex. We considered wines whose first vintage was at least 15 years ago, those widely regarded to hold or improve in quality with time, ones traded most frequently in the U.S. With that in mind, we gathered secondary market data on dozens of wines to calculate the most collectible California bottlings today. This means that now is an ideal time to collect the crème de la crème of California wines, those with proven ability to improve over time in both enjoyment and worth. in Chicago and on the San Francisco-based Vinfolio trading and cellar-management platform. Last year, Liv-ex, the global marketplace for the wine trade, introduced its California 50 Index, and sales of the top collectibles have surged at Sotheby’s in New York City, Hart Davis Hart Wine Co. The bouquet is fascinating and evolved, the palate retains some freshness, and the mouthfeel has turned silky-just what’s supposed to happen as a great wine matures. Anyone who has uncorked a carefully stored 20-year-old Dominus or 30-year-old Ridge Monte Bello knows that California wine can age well.