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At Centennial Fine Wine and Spirits we endeavor to bring you the best wines available and at a fair price. In doing that, we travel extensively to find great wines. This includes annual trips to France, Italy and California with occasional forays to other major wine regions: Australia, Chile, Spain, Germany, Oregon, etc. One of those California trips is for some really special wines. Centennial sent buyers to the ninth annual Premiere Napa Valley Auction to acquire any "lots" they found interesting. This was our 5th year to attend. Roger Voss, Executive Vice President and David Saunders, Retail Wine Director represented us. Below is an excerpt from the press release for the annual event.
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St. Helena, CA • February 28, 2005 • The ninth annual Premiere Napa Valley? (PNV) reached new heights on Saturday, February 26, generating an unprecedented 48% increase in revenue over 2004. When the last gavel dropped overall results for the auction, a trade-only event featuring five-, ten- and 20-case lots of one-of-a-kind Napa wine futures, indicated a very healthy interest in Napa Valley wines. Sixty-two successful bidders purchased 165 lots (a 6% increase from 2004), raising $1.46 million to help support programs sponsored by the Napa Valley Vintners (NVV). The sizable increase in revenue was spread across the board, with 42 lots bringing in $10,000 or more, as compared to 23 in 2004.
Attendees spent the morning rubbing elbows with winemakers and barrel tasting unique wines created exclusively for the event, held at the legendary Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. "For vintners, Premiere is an opportunity to see hundreds of top industry representatives in our own backyard on a single day," said Andy Hoxsey, owner of Napa Wine Company and chairman of PNV 2005. "But perhaps more exciting for us, we get to create small lots of very unique, one-of-a-kind wines and then offer our best clients the opportunity to buy these wines -- wines they can't get anywhere else, or ever again for their customers."
Noted auctioneer Fritz Hatton, who, along with Ursula Hermacinski, led the three hour auction commented, "There are always those lots that command extraordinary prices, and this year there was a record showing in the $20-50,000 range, providing great energy in the room. But we also saw a lot of spirited competition in the $4-8,000 range, and successful bidders seemed really excited to be able to pick up unique wines without having to pay astronomical prices."
As was the case last year, the top bidder of the day was Gary Fisch, owner of Gary's Wine and Marketplace in Madison, New Jersey. "I've been attending and bidding at Premiere for the last eight years, and it's always an annual highlight" says Gary Fisch, Gary's Wine and Marketplace in Madison, New Jersey. "This isn't just another industry event. You spend the morning tasting unique personal creations alongside the winemakers; then you get a shot at being the only person in the world to own this wine. The room is packed with top buyers -- the buzz in the room is positively electric."
Premiere Napa Valley is held each year at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone (CIA), in St. Helena, and is the only fundraising event that directly supports NVV programs, including a generous $500,000 support grant pledged to the CIA for development of the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies over the course of five years.
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In the past, Centennial has been the highest bidder on some spectacular wines. Last year, it was Honig Cabernet Sauvignon, Stagecoach Vineyard, 2002 which should be here in November. (Remember, the buyers taste samples from barrels. The wines won't be bottled for another year, or so.) This year, Roger and David bought a barrel of Stag's Leap Winery Field Lot, 2003. The "field" that was harvested for this wine is a 70-year-old vineyard containing several Rhone varietals and a considerable amount of Petite Sirah. It won't be ready until May 2006.
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