Wine lovers raised nearly $1 million dollars for local charities during the annual Sonoma County Wine Celebration and live auction. That’s down from last year’s $1.6 million total, but not unexpected since organizers cut the number of live lots by half from 2024 in an effort to energize and expedite the proceedings. The proceeds will fund children’s literacy initiatives. Since 1988, the auction has raised more than $44 million for nonprofits focusing on education, health services, arts and culture and the environment in Sonoma County.
The three-day event, sponsored by the Sonoma County Vintners Foundation, culminated with the live auction on Sept. 20, where more than 200 guests gathered under the white tent on the lawn of Cline Cellars in Sonoma Valley.
It was an ideal Sonoma summer day, sunny and in the low 80s with a cooling Carneros breeze, as bidders arrived. Guests were met with sparkling wine and small bites including caviar and ahi tuna tartare, plus oysters on the half shell and duck confit tostadas. They roamed around under the shade of the towering oaks and palm trees as they sampled wines from a dozen vintners.
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Auctioneer John Curley made bidding on the 22 lots lively. When not raising their paddles, guests dined on grilled shrimp, Ibérico pork tenderloin with macerated cherries, and grilled bavette steak with barbecued onion jus. And of course they drank wine—Sonoma County wine.
Lot #21 was the top lot of the day, offering up VIP access for 8 people to next year’s Sonoma County Wine Celebration—it sold for $25,000. Lot #13 was a “Wine & Dine With Sonoma County’s Leading Ladies,” a lunch for 12 guests that included 16 prominent women winemakers and vintners, including Kim Stare Wallace of Dry Creek Vineyard, Prema Kerollis of Three Sticks and Tessa Lee Gorsuch of Martinelli. Also included was a case of wine from each winemaker, for a total of 192 bottles. It sold for $22,000.
Another hot lot was the Ultimate Knights Valley Experience, which sold for $14,500 and then quickly doubled to $29,000 when the sponsors agreed to offer a second experience to the runner-up bidder. The lot included a three-night getaway for eight people plus a nine-magnum collection of wine from Knights Bridge, Linked Vineyards and Brandon Gregory Estate.
The final lot, and always the highpoint of the live auction, was the annual Fund-a-Need, which brought in a total of $590,000, as dozens of bidders individually pledged amounts up to $50,000 each. The money goes to children’s education and literacy programs in the county.
Earlier in the day, congressman Mike Thompson, who represents the congressional district that includes most of Sonoma County, addressed the crowd with the Fund-a-Need lot in mind. “This is a community that not only makes fantastic wine,” said Thompson. “This is a community that gives back, and comes together to make sure that kids will get a shot at the American dream.”
Before bidding began on the lot, auctioneer Curley made a personal and emotional statement about his experience as a child with dyslexia. “Reading for me was just such a nightmare,” he said as he contributed $1,000 to the cause. “For every kid who ever struggled, thank you, Sonoma.”
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