It was a wet ‘n wild afternoon at this year’s big Napa wine auction as an unseasonable _ I mean really unbelievable, are you kidding me, winter storms in June?! _ downpour pounded the event. But although umbrellas took the place of big hats it was charity that reigned as the 31-year-old event reached a lifetime giving total of more than $100 million.
As honorary chair Koerner Rombauer put it, “Sorry about the weather, but so what!”
So what, indeed. Although the total was shy of 2010, when the bidding topped $8 million, it was a good showing for a year that could have been swamped by the lingering economic doldrums not to mention the nasty weather.
Here’s a video of the event.
The top lot of the day was a joint effort by Garen and Shari Staglin of Staglin Family Vineyard and celebrity Chef Michael Chiarello. The lot, which combined food and wine, went up to $300,000 as two bidders duked it out, and then the Staglins and Chiarello doubled the lot for a total of $600,000. So everyone went home happy.
Other big lots included a doubled lot from BOND which brought in $240,000 and another two-fer from Raymond Vineyards which added up to $390,000. Raymond owner Jean-Charles Boisset has a lot to celebrate; he and wife Gina Gallo just welcomed twin girls into their family.
The auction is a four-day affair held each year on the first weekend of June. In addition to the live auction, which takes place on Saturday afternoon, there’s an e-auction and a barrel auction. This year, the barrel auction brought in just over $1 million with the top lot coming from Shafer Vineyards, fetching $59,600.
The only loser of the day was the beautifully manicured fairway at the Meadowood resort which owner Bill Harlan (of Bond Estates and Harlan Estate) perennially donates as a venue for the live auction. The soggy conditions and foot traffic turned some patches into soupy mud; an area reserved for dancing was particularly churned up. That’s the first time I’ve ever gone home with mud on my dancing shoes rainboots.
Talk about getting down and dirty on the dance floor.
Cheers.
