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T his June will see the highly anticipated return of 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Auction Napa Valley. This, its 45th edition, is chaired by Michelle and Robin Baggett of Alpha Omega wines – and is once again powered by Sotheby’s. In a setting that stresses shared resources and community bonds, two auctions will feature barrels from 🔜the region’s leading winemakers as well as a curated array of luxurious experiences, all offered 🧸to support charities benefiting Napa Valley youth, education and wellness. Over the last 45 years the initiative has funded close to 60 organizations under the guidance of a board-appointed vintner committee that analyzes the most urgent needs of the community and ensures grants are distributed immediately to those causes.
In advance of the auctions, I had the pleasure of speakin🤪g with the Baggetts about the extraordinary event.
Jacqueline Towers-Perkins
It goes without saying that I’m so excited to be returning as the auctioneer for the 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Auction Napa Valley, an🏅d to be speaking with you, Robin and Michelle Baggett from Alpha Omega, the co-chairs of this edition.
I’d l🅺ovᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚe to start by asking you about the mission of Auction Napa Valley and how it started.
Robin Baggett
This is Auction Napa Valley’s 45th year of giving. Michelle and I started our winery two decades ago, which makes us a bit of a Johnny-come-lately. But the minute we arrived in Napa we knew we wanted to be involved with Auction Napa Valley because their cause is so wonderful. All of the proceeds go back into making our community better, es♕pecially because it supports y൲outh, education and wellness.
Michelle Baggett
We tore down an old winery to build a new one right in the heart of Napa, and when we opened our doors in 2006 our most important goal was to become part of our community – to serve Napa Valley with the utmost hospitality ꧃and to showcase what a jewel it is. We’ve held steadfast to that goal over the last 19 years.
We’re an agricultural community, and over the last 45 years Auction Napa Valley has supported the health, wellness and education of our children. We’ve found that when our kids feel supported and strong they then feel empowered not only to seek higher education and new avenues for their life, but also to bring those vital skills back to the community – they come back as doctors, nurses, teachers and mechanics. We want to build a strong foundation for every child in Napa to succeed, and that’s only possible through the friendships we forge throughout the valley. We hold hands as we push each other to do 𓂃great things.
“Our goal was to serve Napa Valley with the utmost hospitality and to showcase what a jewel it is.”
Jacqueline Towers-Perkins
T☂hat sense of community is really palpable when you visit, especially over the auction weekend. When I first joined the auction as an outsider I immediately felt so welcomed🌌.
Robin Baggett
We don’t look at our fellow vintners as competitors – we support each other. I can’t think of another industry where that’s the case; it’s a rare and special thing. When I was an attorney, my client was my client. But w🐬e know that an Alpha Omega customer is going to visit other wineries, and we want to be a part of helping them collect wines. We’re happy to be one of the 10 or 15 bottles in someone’s Napa Valley cellar.
Jacqueline Towers-Perkins
I find it very moving that year after year we see⭕ the same people return to this auction. That speaks to the power of that community you’re describing. You get the sense people really look forward to this event and t♉o seeing all of their friends.
Let’s talk about the first auction of the weekend: 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Napa Valley Barrel Auction. My first barrel auction was tw🐼o years ago, and it was so exciting. This year’s edition is larger than years past.
Robin Baggett
When you arrive you’ll see the marketplace with ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ🅺ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚall of these wineries gathered outside, pouring their wines alongside magnificent chefs from Napa Valley. Once you head into the auction itself, there are barrels everywhere.
Robin Baggett
Winemakers, collectors and retailers – everyone is milling about, tasting wines and bidding against their ཧfriends for wine barrels. But it’s not a competition; we’re all hugging and toasting each other. It’s a vibe unlike any other auction, and it’s incredibly thrilling. The 2023 vintage we’re offering this year is going to be a classic. We just tasted some over the weekend and the quality is outstanding.
Jacqueline Towers-Perkins
The barrel auction will be followed by a 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:live auction, hosted at Chandon winer💜y. It will also be streamed online and we’ll accept phone bids, giving everyone around the world an opportunity to partake.
Michelle Baggett
Chandon is such an incredible property in the Vaca Mountains. You’ll enter through a long driveway lined with oak trees, and then you’ll cross a bridge where you’ll be greeted with a glass of beautiful sparking wine in their grove. I won’t spoil them, but the event will have a series of reveals across the proper🌟ty crescendoing up to a dinner featuring Christopher Kostow, the ch🙈ef of The Restaurant at Meadowood Napa Valley, which has three Michelin stars. He just gave me a sneak peek of the menu, and oh my, it’s going to be good. We’re really grateful to Chandon for their support.
Jacqueline Towers-Perkins
Tell us about some of th🐼e𝄹 lots that will be offered, and how they represent the Napa Valley community. There are some incredible lots available for both connoisseurs and novices alike.
“We don’t look at our fellow vintners as competitors – we support each other.”
Michelle Baggett
Alpha Omega and Bouchaine Vineyards are offering an experience on Mustique, a private island in the Caribbean known for its celebrity presence – Princess Margaret had a home there. The winners of the lot will stay at a villa called Toucan Hill with jaw-dropping views and a luxurious beach. There will be yoga, tennis, a spa, horseback riding on the beach and vehicles that will take you all over the island to explore. The dinners are these wonderful, first-class preparations of fish from the Grenadine Islands. And the best part is that Alpha Omega wines will b🌟e available for a private tasting, as well as a double magnum of our ERA Flagship for three couples to take home.
Robin Baggett
And that’ജs just one lot! It’s a shame💛 not to single them all out because they’re all just incredible, so people will have to read about them online.
Michelle Baggett
To mention just a few more, Piero Antonioni that will take collectors to Tuscany. We’ve been the👍re probably 18 times, but no one does Tuscany like Piero Antonioni. He’s such a giving, loving person, and he’s not shy with his wine tastings.
And then my frien𝔉ds from Bvlgari and B Cellars have put together a fantastic lot all about gemstones. You’ll be taken to Firenze and Roma to see Bvlgari’s stores and their museum of gems – a place like nowhere else. You’ll get to visit Elizabeth Taylor’s private sitting parlor and try on some of her personal gems. I like to imagi🍨ne her dressed up with a glass of champagne, wearing the most extraordinary jewelry.
From a wine focus, I’d be remiss not to mention a lot celebrating 45 years of Napa Valley giving. It leans into the chairs of this event over the years. The lot begins with a🥀 1981 Louis Martini wine and goes all the way through current vintages – all from the wineries themselves or from winemakers’ personal cellars. Michael Mondavi has donated a wine from when Robert and Margrit Mondavi wer♎e chairs, for example.
And of course we should mention the final lot, which includes 100ඣ magnum bottles of Napa Valley wine. It’s the grand finale, and we’ve titled it “Because One Bottle Is Never Enough.” So we’re giving you 100 bottles!
Jacqueline Towers-Perkins
You know, as someone who leads auctions for a living, I mean it when I say that I’ve never seen anything like this. These are priceless experiences all in support of a truly wond𝓀erful cause. I know how much this 45th y🌜ear means to all of you, and that really shines through in what you’ve organized for collectors. Every piece of the weekend is so beautifully put together.
Robin Baggett
We see it as an immense privilege to represen𝓀t one of the world’s most extraordinary wine regions and to give as much as we can back to the children of our community.
