Buyers refound their confidence at this year's Naples Winter Wine Festival in the US, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on Opus One, a collection of Krug Champagne and magnums of Napa's Staglin and Burgundy's Michel Lafarge.
Bidders at last year’s Naples Winter Wine Festival
Total sales from the 2014 version of the Florida-based charity auction, which also includes cars and luxury holidays, reached US$13.5m.
It marks something of a return to the good times, following sub-$10m sales totals in three of the previous five years. The 2013 auction fetched $8.6m.
Top wine lot in 2014 was the ‘Stunning Staglin‘, which included two double magnums from both California‘s Staglin and Burgundy’s Michel Lafarge, plus a six-night trip to Paris and Burgundy accompanied by Shari and Garen Staglin, owners of the Napa Valley estate.
Fierce bidding led to the lot being sold twice to two different buyers, for $200,000-a-piece. The top singular lot sold was ten three-litre bottles of Opus One from a range of vintages, which also came with a travel package to Napa Valley, London and Tokyo, which altogether fetched $280,000.
Other eye-catching wine lots included a 61-bottle haul of Krug, plus two nights for two couples as Chateau les Crayères in Reims, France, which fetched $220,000. The lot also comprised one of six ‘l’Ephemère Eternel’ sculptures commissioned by Krug.
Buyers also paid $150,000 and $140,000 for wines from Catena Zapata in Argentina and Craggy Range in New Zealand respectively, plus accommodation at the two wineries and tours.
The Catena lot included three magnums of Nicolás Catena Zapata wine, from the ’04, ’05 and ’07 vintages. The Craggy Range lot included one five-litre bottle of 2009 Craggy Range Te Muna Road Vineyard Pinot Noir.
All proceeds from the annual Naples auction will be distributed to charities by the Naples Children & Education Foundation.
This article was updated on 28/01/14 following an updated press release that included the Opus One sale and clarified that the two Staglin & Lafarge lots were sold for $400,000 in total.
Written by Chris Mercer
