Napa Wine Auction: Organic Vintners Lead the Pack With Winningest Offers

The big gala event of the year in California's most glamorous valley was this weekend - rainy and cold, but warm in spirit. The auction raised $7.3 million dollars for local charities (about $1 million less than in 2010).

Several organic vintners made headlines. A few highlights:

The Staglins

• Staglin Family Vineyard, which makes only organically grown wines, put together one of the winningest bids: $300,000 for a wine and food weekend in Napa with meals cooked by Michael Chiarello. The Calabrese-themed offer was doubled in order to sell it twice. The winning bidders were Sandi and John Thompson of Woodside (he is chairman of the board of Symantec) and Dan Duckhorn.

• Chappellet Vineyard & Winery (transitioning to CCOF) also doubled its offer, raising $200,000 each for the ultimate road trip for 6 to Big Sur and south along with double magnums of its cabernet sauvignons.

Cal. Lt. Gov. (and Cade partner) Gavin
Newsom with U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson

• Jean-Charles Boisset, of Raymond Vineyards (in transition to Demeter certification), offered dinner in Paris in the Baccarat Cristal Room, and a trip to Burgundy, for $195,000 and got and fulfilled two offers, also doubling the money.

Other offers included organically or biodynamically grown wines from Araujo, Quintessa, Joseph Phelps (who partnered with Schramsberg), Spottswoode and Cade. Cade partner (and California's Lt. Gov.) Gavin Newsom was on hand to celebrate the festivities.