What CA wineries were scorching hot but now not and why did that happen?

[Zhi Hu]

This wine hobby is super fun and even though I've only been purchasing wine for 6 years or so, I've seen a lot of CA wineries that had so much hype but are now definitely not as hot. What wineries do you think belong on this list?

David Arthur (Got high WS scores but started bundling wines)
Levy McClellan (Got great hype but then released their wine too high)
Sloan (Not sure why)
Neal
Grace Family
Araujo
Futo
Cinq Cepages

[Bob Bressler]

I think that 'hype' is the relevant word here. Napa cabs, in particular, are made in very different styles, but hype seems to be one dimensional. Some people love the highly extracted, high alc wine, and others like the elegance which is more often associated with French wines. The hype often (not always, but often) comes from reviews which can be biased by the style preference of that reviewer. I have occasionally put out several hundred dollars for a wine, only to find it not to my liking. In those cases, I like the fact that the after market price is often based on the initial reviews - not the consensus that sometimes follows.

[Carrie Bowman]

Bob,
I agree and also find many of those high alc/extracted wines do not age as gracefully as others do.

Zhi,
I can name a myriad of wines that we've seen people chase and then the interest fizzles out, there is always a new hot wine that people want to try when it has hype and a good score. How many of them will be on your list in the near future?

[David Glasser]

Depends on your time frame. Plenty have gone from superstar status to, well, something less, regardless of whether they still make good wine or not. To add a few more to your list, just my opinion of course:

Flowers
Brewer Clifton
Mondavi
Beringer
Dominus