More than 4,000 would-be customers reside on each winery's waiting list. Another cult sensation, Screaming Eagle in Oakville, no longer even takes names. The appetite for America's most coveted wines appears insatiable, at least for now. Voracious demand and paltry production mean that the wines practically sell themselves, permitting estates to use mailing lists to bypass the traditional distribution system of wholesalers and retailers. Mailing list customers typically pay nearly twice as much per bottle as do wholesalers.
Producers can also reward loyal customers and select who gets the wines.
People who signed up early enough are assured of getting an allotment, while latecomers must take their places in line and hope for production increases or openings on the list. Naoko Dalla Valle, owner of Dalla Valle, also rewards seniority, distributing six-packs of the Maya to older customers and as few as two bottles apiece to more recent arrivals. Most estates report that they only blackball clients who don't buy their allotments two years in a row, or those who try to scam additional bottles by registering under different names. It's organized by registration date, and everyone has a number. Bryant concedes that he made one exception a couple of years ago.