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Screaming Eagle: Napa's cult Cabernet

A tiny Oakville estate that became the most famous cult wine in California. Who made it, what is in the bottle, why it is so hard to get, and what a sommelier should know.

Alper Billik · Advanced Sommelier

Updated October 2026 · 4 min read · Edited with AI

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Screaming Eagle in one minute
How it started
Why Oakville?
What "cult wine" means
How to buy a bottle
For sommeliers: what to know
Questions people ask

The short answer: Screaming Eagle is a small estate in Oakville, Napa Valley, best known for one wine: a Cabernet Sauvignon-based red made in very small quantities. Its first vintage was 1992. It is sold mainly through a waiting list, and it became the model for what people call a cult wine: tiny production, huge demand, and a name that collectors chase.

Screaming Eagle in one minute


Where	Oakville AVA, Napa Valley, California
Founder	Jean Phillips, who bought the property in 1986
First vintage	1992, made with winemaker Heidi Peterson Barrett
Owner	Stan Kroenke (with Charles Banks from 2006; sole owner since 2009)
Grapes in the vineyard	Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, a little Sauvignon Blanc
How it is sold	Through the estate's waiting list, then the secondary market
Price level	Premium, auction-level

Where: Oakville AVA, Napa Valley, California

Founder: Jean Phillips, who bought the property in 1986

First vintage: 1992, made with winemaker Heidi Peterson Barrett

Owner: Stan Kroenke (with Charles Banks from 2006; sole owner since 2009)

Grapes in the vineyard: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, a little Sauvignon Blanc

How it is sold: Through the estate's waiting list, then the secondary market

Price level: Premium, auction-level

How it started

Jean Phillips, a former real-estate agent, bought a vineyard in Oakville in 1986. She sold most of the grapes to other Napa wineries and kept a small block of Cabernet Sauvignon for herself. With Heidi Peterson Barrett as winemaker, she made the first Screaming Eagle from the 1992 vintage. It was made in small quantities and sold to a short mailing list. Scarcity and praise from critics turned a small private project into a legend within a few years.

In 2006, Phillips sold the estate to Stan Kroenke and Charles Banks. Banks left in 2009, and Kroenke has owned it alone since. Screaming Eagle's own site also links to its sister estates: Jonata and The Hilt in California and Domaine Bonneau du Martray in Burgundy.

Why Oakville?

Oakville sits in the middle of the Napa Valley floor, between Yountville and Rutherford. It is one of Napa's most famous AVAs for Cabernet Sauvignon: warm days that ripen the grape fully, cooler nights that keep it fresh, and well-drained soils washed down from the hills. Napa Cabernet in detail: Cabernet Sauvignon wines.

What "cult wine" means

Tiny production: small enough that demand always outruns supply.
Direct sale: most bottles go to a private list of buyers, not to shops.
A waiting list: new buyers wait for a place on the list.
Secondary market: the bottles that do appear trade at auction and through fine-wine merchants, at far more than the release price.

How to buy a bottle

The waiting list: sign up on the estate's site and wait. Places open slowly.
Auctions and fine-wine merchants: the realistic route for most people. Ask for provenance: where the bottle has been stored, and whether it came straight from the estate.
Check authenticity. Famous labels attract fakes. The estate's site has its own authentication page; use it, and buy only from sellers who will stand behind the bottle.
On a restaurant list: expect it only in a handful of top restaurants, at a premium price.

For sommeliers: what to know

Placement: Oakville AVA, inside the Napa Valley AVA.
Style: a Cabernet Sauvignon-led Bordeaux blend; ripe, concentrated, polished and built to age.
Service: decant a young bottle; stand an old one upright a day before and decant gently off the sediment. Serve at 16–18°C in a large Bordeaux glass.
With food: grilled beef or lamb, slow-cooked dishes, aged hard cheese.
Selling it: guests who order a wine like this are buying a story as much as a taste. Tell it simply: one woman, one small vineyard, one vintage that started a movement. Sell the feeling, not the score.

Questions people ask

Who owns Screaming Eagle?

Stan Kroenke. He bought it with Charles Banks in 2006 and became sole owner in 2009.

Where is Screaming Eagle?

In Oakville, in the middle of the Napa Valley, California.

Why is Screaming Eagle so expensive?

Very small production, decades of praise from critics, and far more buyers than bottles. Most wine goes to a waiting list, so the rest trades at auction prices.