2006 Screaming Eagle Allocation

The 2006 Screaming Eagle allocations are available - for $750 a bottle.

The rules are changing, and the top CA cults are no longer an automated buy. See my Sloan post for an example of one to skip.

If you're fortunate enough to be on the list, you probably still want this one. After adding item tax, shipping, and shipping tax, my 3 bottles came to $2507. This is $835 delivered. An auction house will take 20% of the hammer price, so 2006 Screaming Eagle needs to fall below $1002, for you to loose money on this.

Longtime members of the Screaming Eagle allocation club will remember the 2003 offered at the (then) outrageous price of $500. That seems like a gift now, and for wine speculators, it was.

You can cut the auction premium to as little as 10%, if you use a discount auctioneer like JJ Buckley, who will auction it online with no reserve. For most wines, it still won't be worth it. But 10% on a Screaming Eagle is actually worth capturing. Plus, demand is still high enough for Screaming eagle to sell at a reasonable price on an internet auction. I wouldn't try this with most other $1000+ wines, like a 1985 Henri Jayer Echezeaux, for instance. The Jayer market is too thin to trust it to a no-reserve online auction.