The Unicorn and the Queen: Capture These Real Wines

Unicorns are rare beasts – nearly impossible to find, but too irresistible to ignore. The term “unicorn” has been bandied about over the last couple of years, particularly in the wine industry. It is used to indicate a bottle of mythological proportions.

At WineBid, we actually see quite a few unicorn wines. Some weeks we can even herd them. Nonetheless, when many of these storied bottles pass through our hands, going from one owner to the next, they give us pause. They make make us wonder and dream. One such bottle was the 1995 Queen of Hearts from Sine Qua Non. We sold three of them. Only 25 cases were made and they were never available on the mailing list. One of our Unicorn Queens sold for $50,000 and will probably never be opened. Perhaps that’s a shame or perhaps it’s just keeping the magic alive.

Interestingly, many wines  considered “cult” or “rare,” are not unicorns. Some of the most sought after wines in the world, like Screaming Eagle or Domaine de la  Romanee-Conti do not earn unicorn status unless the producer makes a special edition.

So what makes a wine a unicorn if we can’t refer to a singular horn? San Francisco’s RN74 Wine Director, Rajat Parr, decided to find out through crowd sourcing on Twitter under the hashtag: #unicornwinerules. The submitted rules were narrowed down to include: unicorns must be from a lot with fewer than 200 cases, they must be made by a now retired or deceased winemaker, and price is no object. But there is a still plenty of wiggle room and one person’s white horse could be another’s unicorn. If we make them too rare that would be no fun, so here are our rules:

• Challenging to find
• Has a reputation for being in the elite tier of its category
• Spoken about with reverence

That being said, what are a few of our unicorns?

• 1985 Gentaz-Dervieux Côte-Rôtie Côte Brune
• 2011 Monier-Perréol Saint-Joseph Laliefine
• 1935 Simi Cabernet Sauvignon
• 1875 Isaias W. Hellman Cucamonga Vineyard Angelica Wine
• Roumier Bonnes Mares Vieilles Vignes
• Dagueneau Asteroide
• 2005 Clendenen Nebbiolo

Some are on the fence, but grab them when you can:

• 2012 Marchesi Di Frescobaldi Gorgona
• 2009 Robert Mondavi To-Kalon I Block Fume Blanc
• 2007 Henri Grouges Bourgogne Pinot Blanc
• 1996 Kongsgaard The Judge Zinfandel
• And Overnoy, Desjourneys, Vatan, Ultramarine….

It’s never bad to have a unicorn in your midst, but we recommend you diversify your herd to include other kinds of bottles: bucket list, once-in-a-lifetime, celebratory, rare, hard-to-find, cult and everyday. With the right food and company, there can be magic in every bottle of wine and a queen at every table.