Hi folks. Need a break from the serious news of the week? Me too. So here is a look at the frothy world of wine auctions. This is pure escapism and not particularly topical other than this weekend was supposed to be the 40th annual Auction Napa Valley, which, unfortunately, was cancelled due to COVID-19. Over the last few years, I’ve been lucky to attend wine auctions in Napa, Naples, Fla., the Willamette Valley and Seattle and here is what I have learned along the way.
Curious about what goes down at a wine auction? The short answer is your bank account and a lot of wine. As in, a lot of wine down the hatch.
It’s really, really good wine, and sometimes there’s so much that I can’t quite keep track of everything going on during the auction. That happened in Seattle when my friend Jenny suggested we raise our shared paddle to “bid up” the prices in order to increase the proceeds benefiting admirable causes. Somehow, we wound up winning a couple of magnums of wine and a private lesson with a butcher on how to make charcuterie. Jenny is a vegetarian, so it was a somewhat troublesome win.
How does a wine auction work?
It starts with a bunch of generous high-end wine lovers and/or high society folks who have a thing for gala weekends. Usually the festivities kick off with fancy dinners in the company of well-known winemakers, celebrity chefs and charming servers.
The next day, is the main event: the live auction, where folks are encouraged to bid on auction lots. Sometimes the lots are wine experiences, for example, a day with the winemaker, dinner at the winery and a case of wine. If you’re a tipsy vegetarian, sometimes lots involve an uncomfortably intimate encounter with meat.
And sometimes the auction features super high-end experiences or items. The year I attended the Naples Winter Wine Auction, the lots featured great travel packages as well as a 2020 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante Convertible (5.2-liter twinturbo, V12 engine) which went for $550K. You’ll be relieved to hear that this time I suppressed my humanitarian urge to help out and sat on my paddle.
Who gets the dough?
Most or all of the money raised at these events supports local groups. In the Willamette Valley, for example, the ¡Salud! Oregon Pinot Noir Auction supports a cause close to my heart, health care for vineyard workers and their families. Over the last 25 years, ¡Salud! has raised more than $17 million to help provide health services for over 2,500 vineyard workers and their families annually.
The Auction of Washington Wines in Seattle has been going strong since 1988 and has thus far raised over $50 million in support of Seattle Children’s Hospital and Washington State University wine science research.
Auction Napa Valley, founded in 1981, has raised $200 million since its inception. When I attended, the auction alone raised $12 million. The proceeds are donated to a variety of local charities focused on children’s health and education in Napa County.
Nobody outbids Florida
That California cash is impressive. But it can’t quite beat the fundraising of the Naples Winter Wine Festival. Founded in 2001, the festival has raised more than $210 million for the Naples Children and Education Foundation, whose mission is to make a profound and sustainable difference in the quality of children’s lives.
I can tell you that these folks do an amazing job connecting the money raised to measurable results. Not only did I get to meet representatives of some of the philanthropies and the individual kids who benefited from them, but I also learned impressive stats about impact. Some 275,000 children have received services, including programs for early childhood development and medical services such as eyesight screenings and eyeglasses. These services have helped the region decrease school suspensions by 65 percent and increase high school graduation by 20 percent.
What’s the vibe?
This is the interesting part. Each event I’ve attended feels very different from the last, perhaps because each attracts a wildly different crowd. At the Auction of Washington Wines, you’ll find happy 30-to-50-year-olds who are delighted to be attending what seems to be one of the best parties of their lives. You can expect to drink, eat, drink, dance, drink and maybe wind up with a charcuterie lesson.
The ¡Salud! Auction in the Willamette Valley is a little more earnest and subdued. The beautiful wines, food and dancing are just as plentiful as up north in Washington and you will make new friends, but your head may not hurt as much the next day.
Both the Washington and Oregon events have relatively “approachable” price tags. But if you’re headed to the biggies in Napa and Naples, you’re going to need quite a bit more green.
The big money in wine auctions
For me, Auction Napa Valley was unreal. The crowd is younger, flashier and over the top–lots of stiletto heels, celebs and money. Especially money: individual auction lots regularly raised more than $1 million. Needless to say, I was afraid to drink much wine lest I accidentally touch my auction paddle and have to sell my house to make a down payment on my charitable commitment. That was a shame because there were some killer Napa wines being poured.
At the Naples Winter Wine Festival, the emcees kept repeating, “Bid often and bid high. It’s all for the kids!” The crowd did just that and reveled in the festive atmosphere. There was a drum line that played as we entered the tent. Kool & The Gang, who first made it big in the 1970s, were on stage. There was a lot of dancing (which just goes to show the median age was higher than at the Napa festival) plus tambourines and noisemakers on each table.
The bottom line is that these events are not only fun, they can make a profound difference in benefiting their communities. If you can swing it financially, you’ll be sure to drink loads of great wine and meet lots of interesting people. Just be careful about raising your paddle.
PS: Looking to attend an auction? The ¡Salud! 2020 auction is planned for November 13-14. Sign up here for updates.