Auction Napa Valley Raises $9.8 million at
Annual Charity Fundraiser
The American Classic Wine Auction is
Quintessential Napa from Start to Finish
St
Helena, CA - The Napa Valley Vintners'
(NVV) Auction Napa Valley (ANV) charity
wine auction concluded today, raising more
than $9.8 million during the annual four-day
event, for health care, youth services and
affordable housing non-profits. Now
in its twenty-seventh year and appropriately
themed "The American Classic,"
the event was again the quintessential Napa
Valley experience focusing on the outstanding
wines from NVV member wineries, the culinary
excellence of the region's chefs and restaurateurs,
the renowned hospitality of the vintners
and the collaborative effort in the Napa
Valley with over 800 local volunteers.
As the final gavel fell, 45 Live, 106 Barrel
and 81 E lots that offered extraordinary
collections of wine, vintner-hosted events
and travel adventures donated by the organization's
many wineries had raised more than $9.8
million. "This is a tremendous showing
of generosity by our bidders who come from
around the world and from our community
to support these charities," said Bill
Phelps whose family and winery team chaired
the prestigious fundraiser.
The auction proceedings began as soon as
the over 800 guests, including bidders and
vintners, were seated when comedian Dana
Carvey welcomed the crowd with his infamous
humor that pokes fun at current events and
politicians. Not long into his program
he took several jabs at Speaker of the House
and Napa Valley vineyard owner Nancy Pelosi.
Then, when it was brought to his attention
that her husband Paul was seated near the
stage, Carvey recovered with a laundry list
of compliments praising the Speaker, hoping
to get off the self-inflicted hot seat with
Mr. Pelosi. The crowd roared and Pelosi
countered that it was all in good fun.
Perhaps the most moving bidding came just
before the final five lots were offered
when John Shafer of Shafer Vineyards took
to the stage to encourage bidders to raise
their paddles in an ANV-first "fund
a need." Here with no prize to
be won other than supporting children's
medical care at Clinic Ole, bidders raised
their paddles to get in on the giving, beginning
with those in for $1000, then those
in for $5000 and so on, finally
paying their top bid placed. The highest
bids of the round came from perennial top-bidder
Joy Craft of Woodside, CA who gave $200,000
and from the Trinchero Family and Joseph
Phelps Family who jointly gave $225,000.
When the lot closed, it had raised $764,000
from 68 bidders.
It was lady's night when the NVV lot, in
partnership with Lexus offered not only
the pre-release of its first-ever hybrid
luxury sedan with a trunk filled with Napa
Valley wine, but also a cadre of lady vintners
who took to the stage to add "a weekend
with the girls" to sweeten the deal.
In a chorus-like lineup that included Nancy
Andrus Duckhorn, Karen Cakebread, Paula
Kornell, Margrit Mondavi, Andrea Phelps,
and Pat Phelps, the final bidder was Oakville
Ranch Winery owner Mary Miner, who paid
$360,000 for the Lexus and its ladies.
Breaking new records, the Staglin Family
Vineyards Lot 24 surged ahead in bidding
that had stalled at $900,000 for a package
that included not only wine, but a six-day
driving trip with the Staglins in Italy
with the use of two Maserati sports cars,
when winery owners Shari and Garen Staglin
added ownership of one of the Maseratis
if the bidder advanced to $1.1 million.
A couple from Woodside, who asked to remain
anonymous, raised their paddle and the gavel
fell setting a new auction benchmark.
The couple commented to a crowd of well-wishers;
"We love what the Auction stands for
and what it does for Napa Valley."
ANV
2007 bid farewell to ever-feisty auctioneer
Ursula Hermacinski, who has worked nearly
every Auction since 1992. Her co-auctioneer
Fritz Hatton handed her the gavel to close
the final bidding of the night and the 2007
event. Hermacinski will continue to
be an integral part of Napa Valley as she
has joined the team at Screaming Eagle winery.
Napa
Valley's World-Class Chefs Create Masterful
Meal
As guests arrived for the Saturday soiree,
it was pure, classic Napa Valley with the
understated elegance of a summer garden
party set on the golf course at Meadowood
Napa Valley. Oversized white paper
lanterns hung from the trees as guests sipped
sparking wine with hors d'oeuvres prepared
by Napa Valley, Emmy-winning Food Network
chef, Michael Chiarello. The bar was
set for the rest of the evening. Dinner
was served during auction bidding in the
open-air tent decorated with olive boughs
and garden lanterns with courses prepared
by winery chefs Sara Scott and Peter Hall;
Hiro Sone and Lissa Domani of Terra; Richard
Reddington of Restaurant Redd; Vincent Nattress
and Joseph Humphries of Meadowood; and Paul
LeMieux of Auberge du Soleil.
Napa Valley's Consummate Weekend for Foodies
Dinner on Saturday night was the culmination
of a days-long food and wine extravaganza,
with vintner-hosted intimate fêtes
on Saturday midday and Friday night as well
as the spectacular Taste Napa Valley at
Auction Napa Valley on Friday midday, held
for the third year at Trinchero Family Estates
in St Helena. Taste Napa Valley featured
over 90 of the region's best restaurants
and artisan food producers alongside nearly
140 vintners pouring wine in a festival
setting with a variety of live musical performances,
while inside the cellar 106 different wines
were "thieved" from the barrel
by winemakers for bidders to taste and bid
on as part of this rousing wine futures
barrel auction.
The Barrel Auction raised just over $1.23
million, a fifty percent increase over 2006
with virtually the same number of cases
offered. 1,060 total cases were purchased,
with an average case price of $1161.
The barrel lots are bid on as individual
cases, with each barrel offering representing
ten cases, providing opportunities for a
great number of bidders. Over 1,600
bidders joined in the fundraising, primarily
in the Barrel Auction which is a perennial
favorite for its rambunctious and exciting
pace. Top professional sommeliers
from VinTrust were on hand throughout the
barrel tasting to assist bidders.
David Freed, chairman of Silverado Premium
Partners, was the top bidder in the Barrel
Auction, purchasing 74 cases of wine for
nearly $60,000. Freed also won the
Freemark Abbey lot in the Live Auction.
Freed said: "We are involved
in the Auction because we supply wine grapes
to many of the wineries that participate,
and it's our opportunity to say thank you
to them. If it helps the wineries,
it helps us, and it helps the community.
It's a triple net gain to the bottom line!"
Bids Cast Around the World
Also at the Friday event was the finale
of the E-Auction where bidders from around
the globe had been actively bidding since
May 25th for wine collections, vintner-hosted
activities, luxury items and more.
Advance bidding parties were held bi-coastally
at Gordon Ramsay at the London NYC in New
York City and at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington
in Pasadena on June 1st. The E-Auction,
now in its second year since going global,
has grown steadily. Finishing at nearly
$379,000, this represents a 21% increase
over 2006.
Auction 2007 Chairs
Chairing this year's event was the Joseph
Phelps Vineyards Family, including Joseph
Phelps, winery founder; his son Bill, chairman;
Tom Shelton, president and CEO; Craig Williams,
senior vice-president and director of winemaking;
and their partners. "The theme
of the American Classic seemed the purest
expression of who we the vintners are in
Napa Valley and what this event has become
over its twenty-seven-year history.
We are proud to have been a part of this
incredible tradition," said Bill Phelps.
Work on the event began more than a year
ago with the Phelps team assembling a steering
committee of vintners and community members
to coordinate all aspects of the operation
from logistics to décor and from
culinary to "hoopla," a committee
dedicated to keeping the energy high.
Phelps continued, "With over 800 volunteers,
the Auction is a well-run, collaborative
effort that showcases the best our community
can be, with neighbor helping neighbor,
to raise funds for scores of charity organizations."
Funds from the Auction will be distributed
in the fall, but over the event's history
nearly $70 million has already been given
to more than fifty non-profit organizations.
ANV
2008
Plans are already underway as the chair
of Auction 2008, the Heitz Wine Cellars
Family, was announced Saturday night during
the bidding. Dates for ANV 2008 are June
5-8, 2008.
More
Information:
For more information about NVV and ANV please
go to www.napavintners.com
Auction
Napa Valley 2007 Photo Gallery
Photographs for editorial use are available
for download in high resolution, please
photo credit Jason Tinacci/NVV
ANV 2007 Recap
2007 10 Top Live Lots- Staglin Family Vineyards,
$1.1 million
Bidder: Anonymous
3-3 liter bottles and a driving tour
of Italy hosted by the Staglins
Screaming
Eagle, $500,000
Bidder: Joy Craft of Woodside, CA
3-3 liter bottles and a campout at the
vineyard
Hundred
Acre, $400,000
Bidder: Anonymous
1-18L bottle and dinner for 10
Harlan Estate, $380,000
Bidder: Ron Kuhn of Wheaton, IL
4-3 liter bottles and dinner for 8
NVV
and Lexus, $360,000
Bidder: Mary Miner of Oakville, CA
A Lexus hybrid sedan, wine collection
and a weekend in Napa Valley
Araujo Estate Wines, $340,000
Bidder: Joy Craft of Woodside, CA
Wine collection and dinner for 10
Colgin
Cellars $320,000
Bidder: Anonymous
7 bottles of wine, dinner for 10
Opus One, $280,000
Bidder: Ann Colgin of St Helena, CA
10 magnums and trip to Bordeaux
Shafer
Vineyards, $250,000
Bidder: Anonymous
3-3 liter bottles and dinner for 8
NVV and Departures Magazine, $220,000
Bidder: José Nazar of Los Angeles,
CA
Wine collection, trip to Singapore for Premiere
Festival del Sole
2007
10 Top Barrel Lots-
Shafer Vineyards, $104,950
Pride Mountain Vineyards, $36,400
Joseph Phelps Vineyards, $35,850
D.R. Stephens Estate, $35,000
Blackbird Vineyards, $28,150
Jones Family Vineyards, $24,900
Nickel and Nickel, $22,050
William Cole Vineyards, $22,000
HDV, $20,750
Etude, $20,100
2007
Top 10 E-Lots-
Kongsgaard, $21,000
Viader Vineyards, $16,500
Domaine Chandon, $15,100
Sherwin Family Vineyards, $15,100
Miner Family Vineyards, $14,500
Etude Wines, $12,400
Franciscan Estate, $12,100
Arietta, $11,800
Cakebread Cellars, $11,200
NVV and Viking Range Corporation, $10,600
About
ANV
Established by a thoughtful group of Napa
Valley vintners in 1981, ANV is the granddaddy
of charity wine auctions in America, having
given nearly $70 million dollars over its
first 26 years for healthcare, youth service
and low-income housing charities in Napa
County. Funds from the 2007 event will be
distributed in the fall. NVV is proud of
our member's contributions, raising desperately
needed funds through ANV and for being the
inspiration and backbone of all other charity
wine auctions across the U.S.
About
the NVV
Now in our seventh decade, the Napa Valley
Vintners (NVV) non-profit trade association
is the sole organization responsible for
promoting and protecting the Napa Valley
Appellation as a winegrowing region second
to none in the world. Respect for our history
reinforces our commitment to the preservation
and enhancement of the Valley's land, wine,
and community for future generations. We
address the shared interests of our nearly
300 members and aspire to be the essential
organization for all Napa Valley vintners.
Napa Valley Vintners (NVV)
Terry Hall - Communications Director
Direct 707-968-4217
thall@napavintners.com
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