'Good juju'
Flying in the face of the current economic downturn, restaurateurs, retailers and wholesalers from across the country and abroad spent close to $1.5 million on one-of-a-kind wine lots at a midwinter auction held at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone last weekend.
While auction revenues fell short of last year’s record $2.2 million, members of the sponsoring Napa Valley Vintners said they were pleased with both bottom line and turnout. The event sold out weeks ago to 500 trade representing 83 wine retail shops, 68 restaurants and 79 wholesalers and brokers, coming from all over the country as well as Canada, Japan, China and the United Kingdom.
In light of a poor economic forecast, the trade association’s board of directors had reduced revenue projections for Premiere Napa Valley last fall.
“We predicted a fraction of the income of last year, and the event’s revenues were, indeed, off by nearly a third from the record-breaking 2008 event,” said board president Paula Kornell, of Oakville Ranch Vineyards. “But the reality is that 2009 income is still in the top four overall.
“Actually, I’m flabbergasted at how well we did. It’s a true testament to our friends in the trade. It was like old-home week with so many here most of the week and then through the weekend. The vintners rallied with 200 great lots and the trade that’s been supporting us for a long time continued to support us. And some people that we haven’t seen in a long time showed up. There was good juju in that room.”
“This week is like a homecoming for our best accounts, and sometimes it feels like Mardi Gras,” echoed Premiere Napa Valley chairman Bryan Del Bondio.
“Raising money for our trade association is just one aspect of PNV. The relationships we nurture with our key customers has, and always will be, our greatest benefit of the event.”
Funds raised at Premiere Napa Valley pay for the association’s promotional programs and protection efforts of the Napa Valley appellation.
“The economy sucks, but not here in the Napa Valley,” declared regular attendee J.P. Richard, a Lawton, Okla., retailer, as the Saturday afternoon auction got under way.
“In spite of the economy, the energy this year was terrific,” said Glen Knight of the Wine House in Los Angeles. “Everyone was really up-beat and the whole valley felt like a party, and very welcoming. We had a terrific time and won some great wines that we look forward to adding to our already great list of PNV wines in our store.”
Spirited bidding
This year’s top bidder once again was Gary Fisch of Gary’s Wine and Marketplace, with three stores in northern New Jersey, who won 37 lots totaling 255 cases of wine — a 27 percent increase over his 2008 purchases. “As usual, we found a lot of great wine, and we are excited about the ’07 vintage — it’s showing beautifully,” Fisch noted.
The wines auctioned represented not only cabernet sauvignon, but also cabernet franc, malbec, merlot, nero d'avola, petit verdot, pinot noir, sangiovese, syrah, zinfandel as well as one sparkling wine.
While some bids on the 5-, 10- and 20-case lots of hand-selected barrels and blends didn’t attract big spenders, a couple of them did command go-for-broke prices — both lots from first-time entries and new members of the 350-brand strong trade association.
Five cases of specially blended Scarecrow 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon — called Toto’s Opium Dream by winemaker Celia Masyczek — earned a top bid of $80,000.
Five cases of Ovid 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon — specially blended in concrete tanks at the Pritchard Hill estate by winemakers Andy Erickson and Austin Peterson — drew a top bid of $42,000.
Both lots were purchased by long-time auction attendee and wine broker Ichizo Nakagawa, of Nakagawa Wine Company of Tokyo, Japan.
Some bidders in the room chided Nakagawa’s free-spending efforts with questions like, “Don’t you know we’re in a recession?” The Japanese wine broker shot back: “Maybe in America.”
The top 10 bidders included retailers from places as distant as Oklahoma City, Little Rock, and Calgary, Alberta — and closer to home, Bounty Hunter of Napa.
One note of interest: New wine projects from the sons of the late industry icon Robert Mondavi not only were represented at Premiere Napa Valley but also were won by identical bids of $15,000. Michael Mondavi’s offering was a 20-case lot of Oberon Hillside Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from the 2007 vintage. Tim Mondavi provided five cases of 2007 Continuum, a red wine blend produced by the company launched by the winemaker, his sister and late father.
In addition, the first Napa Valley wine from respected Italian vintner Piero Antinori — Antica Napa Valley 2007 Townsend Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon — received a top bid of $11,000 for 10 cases.
Highest revenue lots of the day
Lot 160 Scarecrow Wines $80,000
Lot 148 Ovid Napa Valley $42,000
Lot 40 Silver Oak Cellars $27,000
Lot 22 Shafer Vineyards $24,000
Lot 133 Joseph Phelps Vineyards $22,000
Lot 7 Keenan Winery $20,000
Lot 116 Lewis Cellars $20,000
Lot 125 Robert Foley & Switchback Ridge $19,000
Lot 76 Beringer Vineyards $18,000
Lot 94 Cardinale $17,000
Lot 5 Duckhorn Vineyards $16,000
Lot 79 Hourglass $16,000
Lot 91 Realm Cellars $16,000
Lot 44 Continuum $15,000
Lot 10 Oberon Wines $15,000
Lot 180 Hewitt Vineyard $15,000
Lot 176 Revana Family Vineyards $15,000
Lot 50 Saintsbury $15,000
Lot 140 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars $15,000
Lot 15 Judd's Hill, Salvestrin & Schweiger Vineyards $14,000
Lot 52 Sp文章来源中国酒业新闻网ottswoode Estate Vineyard & Winery $14,000
Lot 11 Jones Family Vineyards $13,000
Lot 16 Vineyard 29 $13,000
Lot 86 O'Shaughnessey Estate Winey $13,000
Lot 87 PlumpJack Winery $13,000
Source: Napa Valley Vintners
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