Naples Winter Wine Festival promises to top itself

  Winemakers from across the world will pour their best vintages and auction their most expensive bottles at next year's ultra-swanky Naples Winter Wine Festival.

  Wine festival organizers announced the line-up of 28 vintners last week.

  The vintners will join various celebrity chefs - including Emeril Lagasse of "Bam!" fame - in creating high-end "vintner dinners" for those attending the February event. The five-to-seven course dinners are held at some of the toniest houses in Naples.

  "The winemaker has already done his job," said Connie Galloway of Naples, who is co-hosting the event along with her husband Tom. "And the enticing part is that the chef must come up with a dish to make the wine and the food taste superb."

  The Galloways are trustees for The Naples Children & Education Fund, the charitable group that started the festival. The January 2008 wine auction raised $14 million for children's charities.

  The ninth annual wine festival will be held Feb. 6-8 at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples. Ticket prices start at $7,500 per couple.

  The festival is usually held in late January, but organizers worried there'd be a conflict with the Super Bowl in Tampa. Both events would have been competing for limousines, tent rentals and other services on the same weekend, Connie Galloway said.

  "We have a lot of different events going on," she said, "and so we have a lot of rentals."

  The festival features 28 vintners from the U.S., Argentina, Chile, Spain, Italy, Australia and France. The wine makers include Screaming Eagle, Peter Michael, Harlan Estate, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Veuve Clicquot and Torbreck.

  The vintner lineup is one of the most diverse ever for the festival, organizers said. It includes nine vintners who have never appeared at the festival.

  "That's what sets us apart," Connie Galloway said. "We do try to change it up. Who wants to eat at the same restaurant over and over again?"

  Organizers likely won't announce the auction lots until December, Tom Galloway said. This year's auction included not just rare and expensive wines, but also high-end cars, trips and other items.

  The highest bid of the day was $1 million for a dream Hollywood trip that included a trip to the Academy Awards and a walk-on role on ABC's "Desperate Housewives."

  Aubert de Villaine of France's Domaine de la Romanee-Conti has been named the festival's Honored Vintner for 2009. The title goes to vintners whose wineries have made a large impact on their home region and achieved worldwide recognition for quality wine production.

  "Each vintner is an absolute standout, and singling out any one for special recognition is a difficult task," said Scott Lutgert, vintner committee chairman, in a press release. Lutgert was out of town and unavailable for comment.

  "Aubert de Villaine ... hails from a vineyard that dates back to 1232, and during the last 776 years, the many stewards of the land have never failed to produce the purest quality wine," Lutgert said. "That is a feat few can lay claim to, and we are privileged to name Aubert de Villaine the Honored Vintner for the 2009 festival."

  Aubert de Villaine will be presented with a special gift at the auction, and he'll also appear at one of the vintner dinners.

  "He's probably one of the most sought-after wines in the world," Tom Galloway said. "And that has a lot to do with why we chose him."
 
  For more information, visit frogmorecreek.com.