Nation's Top Celebrities, Wine Enthusiasts and Philanthropists Gather to Raise Funds for Local Children's Charities

Sonoma Paradiso, One of Top Three Wine Auctions in the Nation, Set for September 27

SANTA ROSA, Calif., Sep 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The 5th Annual Sonoma Paradiso Wine Auction, formerly the Imagine Auction, will be held in California's Sonoma County on Saturday, September 27. The auction, to be held at Stonestreet Alexander Mountain Estate, is one of the top three wine auctions in the nation with one hundred percent of the proceeds benefiting children's charities in the community. Fourteen-time Grammy Award Winner, David Foster and special guest will perform.

The auction, which began in 2004, raises funds for regionally based charities that benefit children. To date, over $6 million has been donated to children charities that provide shelter, nutrition, scholarly assistance, health care, and after school programs. Approximately 10,000 children in the community have benefited from this auction.

"We founded this auction in order to ensure the health, welfare, and quality of children's lives," said Barbara Banke, co-chair and co-founder of Sonoma Paradiso. "We are very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to live in our own little paradise of Sonoma County and hope the funds from the auction will create a little slice of paradise for these children in need."

The auction will offer 40 impressive lots including the opportunity to be a character in an upcoming novel by John Lescroart, a New York Times bestselling author as well as the chance to bid on a movie night in Francis Ford Coppola's private screening room. Other lots include a 100% electric Tesla Roadster, and a Wonderful World of Disney Imagineering package that consists of a signed bottle of "CARS" Cabernet Sauvignon, donated by CEO of Pixar John Lasseter and his wife Nancy. The 2007 lot that garnered the largest bid was the Cirrus SR-22 GTS jet.

Vintners Jess Jackson and his wife Barbara Banke, along with Fred Furth and Peggy Furth, created Sonoma Paradiso. Co-chairs of the auction include Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola, John and Nancy Lasseter, Don and Rhonda Carano, Hugh and Connie Codding, Ray and Sally Duncan, Don and Jenny Hartford, Tom and Sandra Jordan, Harvey Chaplin and Mel Dick, Richard Coombs and Larry Wasem, Charles Merinoff, Sir Peter and Lady Michael, Ken and Alma Molinaro, Jean Schulz, Marcy and Tom Smothers.