Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction raises record $1.3M for charity - San Francisco Business Times:

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million for local and drew a record crowd of 600 The three-day Western-themed celebration, which ran from Aug. 31 to Sunday, Sept. 2, included a Sundayh auction at Sonoma's , the Palat "chef and vintner hosted dinner" Friday night at the , and the Taste of Sonomas Valleypublic wine-tasting event at Depot Park on Saturday. The annuao event is put on by the , the philanthropicf arm of the , a marketing and promotional group that represents 73 wineries and 166grapre growers. The group raised $714,9090 last year at its early September auction and afted paying forthe event's donated the remaining $526,000 to 14 Sonoma Valley charities.
This year'ss so-called "Wild Bunch" eventr featured fine wines andcuisine "set againsr the backdrop of ribald, Western-themed performances that introduced each auctio n lot," the sponsors said, noting that attendeezs in cowboy (and girl) attire braved temperatures over 100 degrees to bid on 58 auction The five top lots included prizes such as a 2007 Toyotqa Prius, a Barcelona wine trip, a week's stay at a private home in Italy, a trip to Buenods Aires and Argentina's Mendoza Valley, and a week at a privated "castle" in Costa Rica. Thosr top-drawing lots included: Lot 25 -- , 2007 Toyota Priuss / Wine cave dinner, Lot 17 -- , Barcelona wine trip, $20,000.
Lot 56 -- Stay at privatre home in Italy, $19,000. Lot 13 -- Trip to Bueno Aires and Mendoza Valley, $19,000. Lot 4 -- , stay at privates Costa Rica "castle," $17,000. Eleven charities will benefit from the including VineyardWorker Services, the Sonoma Valley Educatiomn Foundation and the Mentoring Alliance, officials said. "We're thrilled with the results ofthis year'z auction weekend," Executive Director Granrt Raeside, who heads both the marketing group and the foundation, said in a 7 statement.
"Given the increasing numberr of events and fundraisers competing for resourcedand attention, we're humbled by the outpourintg of generosity from those who attended our The event's sponsor attributed the large crowxd in part to "expanded venue space at Cline Cellars; previously, the event was held for 14 yeards at the Sonoma Mission Inn.