The Economics of Cult Wines

I recently came across an article highlighting 6 "cult wines to covet" (Sloan, Ovid, etc.)  Aside from their near perfect scores by wine critics, what these wines share in common is their minuscule production quantity of 400-500 cases per year.  After seeing these production numbers, my first thought was "how the heck do these winemakers stay in business"?  I understand that these wines have oversubscribed mailing lists which eliminate much of the costs associated with marketing and distribution. However, even at release prices of $300+ per bottle to wait-list members, my back of the envelop math shows that the winemaker is only bringing in a little over $1 million in revenues each year, which seem quite low considering the need to cover the cost of production, personnel, equipment and consultants etc.  The article talks about how in the case of Sloan, the search for the land plot took 3.5 years and the team assembled was an all star cast of winemakers and vineyardists, which certainly do not come cheaply.  Is the cult wine model actually economically viable? Or is it more a lifestyle business / expensive hobby for wine enthusiasts?  While cult wines are often resold at prices that are multiples of their release price, are the wine producers actually capturing any of this value or does the value accrue to the resellers/investor? I am curious to get everyone's insights on the dynamics of this market.