Happy Days Are Here Again In Napa Valley

It was a great weekend in wine country. The Napa Valley Vintners’ (NVV) Premiere Napa Valley barrel tasting and auction proved to be a smashing success, raising almost 30 percent more than last year. But the $2 million that the fundraiser brought in is not only being celebrated as a sign that the wine industry is on an upturn, but also because the total is the third best in the 14-year history of the affair.

The weekend event, designed for insiders of the trade, offers vintners the opportunity to be the first to get their hands on some of the finest wines that will be released later in the year. General manager of Stag Leap Wine Cellars, Jeff McBride, served as the chair of this year’s Premiere, and offered the first lot to bidders for $26,000. Shafer Vineyards brought in the most money for one lot with their five-case offering of Sunspot Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. The lucky winner? Winebid.com for $37,000.

According to an official release, “The perennial top bidder at Premiere, Gary Fisch of Gary’s Wine and Marketplace with three stores in New Jersey said, ‘We had heard so much about the 2008 vintage and came to taste that. We found that it rivals the best, so we were really excited to bid today. The wines show texture, flavor and acidity. Our customers are starting to drink more premium wines, and they’re calling on us to bring these kinds of wines home for them.’ Fisch purchased 38 different wines for his clients from the Premiere catalog, including high-earning lots from BOND, Chateau Boswell and Staglin Family Vineyards.”

High earning lots for the day included:

• Ovid Napa Valley’s lot for $33,000
• Lewis Cellars, Schrader Cellars and TOR Family Vineyard
• Cakebread Cellars
• Duckhorn Wine Company and Hourglass
• Lot 116 by Robert Foley Vineyards and Switchback Ridge
• Moone-Tsai Vineyards

You can see more photos from the auction on the Haute Living events page later today, and can read about the event in full on the Napa Valley Vintners website.