When Warren Winiarski , proprietor of Stag 's Leap Wine Cellars in Napa Valley , announced a $75 price tag for his 1985 Cask 23 Cabernet this fall , few wine shops and restaurants around the country balked . " This is the peak of my wine - making experience , " Mr. Winiarski declared when he introduced the wine at a dinner in New York , " and I wanted to single it out as such. "

It is in my estimation the best wine Stag 's Leap has produced , and with fewer than 700 cases available , it is sure to sell quickly . The price is a new high for California Cabernet Sauvignon , but it is not the highest . Diamond Creek 1985 Lake Vineyard Cabernet weighed in this fall with a sticker price of $100 a bottle .

One of the fastest growing segments of the wine market is the category of superpremiums - - wines limited in production , of exceptional quality ( or so perceived , at any rate ) , and with exceedingly high prices . For years , this group included a stable of classics - - Bordeaux first growths ( Lafite - Rothschild , Latour , Haut - Brion , Petrus ) , Grand Cru Burgundies ( Romanee - Conti and La Tache ) deluxe Champagnes ( Dom Perignon or Roederer Cristal ) , rarefied sweet wines ( Chateau Yquem or Trockenbeerenauslesen Rieslings from Germany , and Biondi - Santi Brunello Riserva from Tuscany ) . These first magnitude wines ranged in price from $40 to $125 a bottle .

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In the last year or so , however , this exclusive club has taken in a host of flashy new members . The classics have zoomed in price to meet the competition , and it almost seems that there 's a race on to come up with the priciest single bottle , among current releases from every major wine region on the globe .

France can boast the lion 's share of high - priced bottles . Bordeaux 's first growths from 1985 and 1986 are $60 to $80 each ( except for the smallest in terms of production , Chateau Petrus , which costs around $250! ) . These prices seem rather modest , however , in light of other French wines from current vintages . Chateau Yquem , the leading Sauternes , now goes for well over $100 a bottle for a lighter vintage like 1984 ; the spectacularly rich 1983 runs $179.

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In Champagne , some of the prestige cuvees are inching toward $100 a bottle . The first Champagne to crack that price barrier was the 1979 Salon de Mesnil Blanc de Blancs . The ' 82 Salon is $115. Roederer Cristal at $90 a bottle sells out around the country and Taittinger 's Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs is encroaching upon that level . The great reds of the Rhone Valley have soared in price as well . E. Guigal 's 1982 Cote Rotie La Landonne , for example , is $120.

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None of France 's wine regions can steal a march on Burgundy , however . The six wines of the Domaine de la Romanee - Conti , 72 of the most precious acres of vineyard anywhere in the world , have commanded three - digit price tags for several years now . With the 1985 vintage , they soared higher: La Tache , $195 ; Richebourg , $180 ; Romanee - Conti , $225. Another small Burgundy estate , Coche - Dury , has just offered its 1987 Corton - Charlemagne for $155.

From Italy there is Angelo Gaja Barbaresco at $125 a bottle , Piero Antinori 's La Solaia , a $90 Cabernet from Tuscany , and Biondi - Santi Brunello at $98. Spain 's Vega Secilia Unico 1979 ( released only in its 10th year ) is $70, as is Australia 's Grange Hermitage 1982.

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" There are certain cult wines that can command these higher prices , " says Larry Shapiro of Marty 's , one of the largest wine shops in Dallas . " What 's different is that it is happening with young wines just coming out . We 're seeing it partly because older vintages are growing more scarce. "

Wine auctions have almost exhausted the limited supply of those wines , Mr. Shapiro continued: " We 've seen a dramatic decrease in demand for wines from the ' 40s and ' 50s, which go for $300 to $400 a bottle . Some of the newer wines , even at $90 to $100 a bottle or so , almost offer a bargain. "

Take Lake Vineyard Cabernet from Diamond Creek . It 's made only in years when the grapes ripen perfectly ( the last was 1979 ) and comes from a single acre of grapes that yielded a mere 75 cases in 1987. Owner Al Brownstein originally planned to sell it for $60 a bottle , but when a retailer in Southern California asked , " Is that wholesale or retail ? " he re - thought the matter . Offering the wine at roughly $65 a bottle wholesale ( $100 retail ) , he sent merchants around the country a form asking them to check one of three answers: 1 ) no , the wine is too high ( 2 responses ) ; 2 ) yes , it 's high but I 'll take it ( 2 responses ) ; 3 ) I 'll take all I can get ( 58 responses ) . The wine was shipped in six - bottle cases instead of the usual 12, but even at that it was spread thin , going to 62 retailers in 28 states .

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" We thought it was awfully expensive , " said Sterling Pratt , wine director at Schaefer 's in Skokie , Ill. , one of the top stores in suburban Chicago , " but there are people out there with very different opinions of value . We got our two six - packs - - and they 're gone. "

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Mr. Pratt remarked that he thinks steeper prices have come about because producers do not like to see a hit wine dramatically increase in price later on . Even if there is consumer resistance at first , a wine that wins high ratings from the critics will eventually move . " There may be sticker - shock reaction initially , " said Mr. Pratt , " but as the wine is talked about and starts to sell , they eventually get excited and decide it 's worth the astronomical price to add it to their collection. "

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" It 's just sort of a one - upsmanship thing with some people , " added Larry Shapiro . " They like to talk about having the new Red Rock Terrace {one of Diamond Creek 's Cabernets} or the Dunn 1985 Cabernet , or the Petrus . Producers have seen this market opening up and they 're now creating wines that appeal to these people. "

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That explains why the number of these wines is expanding so rapidly . But consumers who buy at this level are also more knowledgeable than they were a few years ago . " They wo not buy if the quality is not there , " said Cedric Martin of Martin Wine Cellar in New Orleans . " Or if they feel the wine is overpriced and they can get something equally good for less. " Mr. Martin has increased prices on some wines ( like Grgich Hills Chardonnay , now $32 ) just to slow down movement , but he is beginning to see some resistance to high - priced red Burgundies and Cabernets and Chardonnays in the $30 to $40 range .

Image has , of course , a great deal to do with what sells and what does not , and it ca not be forced . Wine merchants ca not keep Roederer Cristal in stock , but they have to push Salon le Mesnil , even lowering the price from $115 to $90. It 's hardly a question of quality - - the 1982 Salon is a beautiful wine , but , as Mr. Pratt noted , people have their own ideas about value .

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It 's interesting to find that a lot of the expensive wines are not always walking out the door . In every major market in the U.S. , for instance , you can buy ' 86 La Tache or Richebourg , virtually all of the first growth Bordeaux ( except Petrus ) , as well as Opus One and Dominus from California and , at the moment , the Stag 's Leap 1985 Cask 23.

With the biggest wine - buying period of the year looming as the holidays approach , it will be interesting to see how the superpremiums fare . By January it should be fairly clear what 's hot - - and what 's not .

Ms. Ensrud is a free - lance wine writer in New York .

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