The 10th annual online auction of the Naples Winter Wine Festival raised more than $1 million to support the mission of the Naples Children & Education Foundation.
These record-breaking online auction proceeds are in addition to the more than $33 million raised Jan. 27 at the 24th annual live auction at the wine festival. Since its inception in 2015, the online auction has raised a total amount of nearly $4.5 million, NCEF announced Jan. 31.
The more than 100 lots in the online auction—which ran from 8 a.m. Jan 19 to 5 p.m. Jan 30—drew bidders from across the country. Lots included rare collectible wines, private wine tastings, over-the-top dinners with well-known chefs, exotic vacations, custom art and luxury excursions.
This year’s top-grossing online auction lot was the “VIP Andrea Bocelli Concert Experience in Orlando, Florida” set for Feb. 18. Seven couples each bid $20,000 for this buy-a-spot lot, raising a total of $140,000. The experience includes roundtrip, private air from Southwest Florida International Airport to Orlando Executive Airport, airport transfer to the Kia Center and two tickets in a Founders Suite with wine, appetizers and dinner.
Three winning bidders also bid $26,500 each for “Don’t Call Me Lonesome: A Private Dinner and Performance,” bringing in a total of $79,500. This experience invites eight couples to join Valerie Boyd and Jeff Gargiulo, owners of Gargiulo Vineyards in Napa, and Radney Foster, an award-winning songwriter and performer, for an evening of music, food and wine at the Gargiulos’ Naples home or their own home in Naples. The memorable meal will be personally prepared by Gargiulo and Foster and will be paired with wines from Gargiulo Vineyards.
Additional online auction highlights include:
- $22,000 for a collection of America’s celebrated bourbon with four highly sought-after bottles of Pappy Van Winkle.
- $21,000 for a selection of highly sought-after California cult wines of Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon.
- $21,000 for “Three Enchanted Nights in the Big Apple,” with two couples enjoying three nights’ accommodations at NCEF lifetime trustee Dave Gibbons’ apartment overlooking Central Park on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The experience includes four premium tickets to a Broadway production, a private wine tasting, two five-course dinners and more.
- $20,000 for an auction lot with a special vertical collection of The Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.
Using the funds raised from this year’s festival, NCEF will award grants on March 18 to local organizations and fund strategic initiatives supporting Collier County children in need. NWWF assists nearly 90 local nonprofit organizations, providing services and resources to more than 300,000 at-risk and underprivileged children.
