When a guest has asked me if a cult wine is really worth the price you have to pay for it I answer with a few different ideas. First of all...

it is supply and demand. Short enough supply combined with an audience who has plenty of money...well if they want to pay for it, it will be worth it to them. For me personally it would not be worth it. I would prefer to buy several bottles of wine rather than spring for one of the cult wines. But things are relative. I have splurged and spent $250.00 on a bottle of wine. The 1982 Gruaud-Larosse was so worth it to me. I still remember the thrill vividly. Would my sister have found it worth the money? Absolutely not. So each person has to answer that question for themselves. I do feel that often there is an "Emperor's New Clothes" phenomena in action. If someone ever wanted to invest in a cult wine and then blind taste it with other more moderately esteemed wines they could really find out the answer to that question. Sometimes people just feel the need to spend alot of money on a big name wine. It has to do with things that don't have much to do with what is in the bottle.