Premiere Napa Valley Auctioneers Ursula Hermacinski and Fritz Hatton
Photo by Alexander Rubin/Courtesy of the Napa Valley Vintners
2/24/2018 - St. Helena, CA – Wine professionals attending today’s sold-out Premiere Napa Valley raised their paddles high, bringing in more than $4.1 million to support the Napa Valley Vintners’ (NVV) mission to promote, protect and enhance the Napa Valley.
“Today’s successful bidders didn’t just buy great wines, they invested in the future of the Napa Valley,” noted Jeff Smith, founder and CEO of Hourglass and 2018 Premiere Napa Valley steering committee chair.
This year’s Premiere Napa Valley homecoming was especially poignant as many of the wine buyers were returning to Napa Valley for the first time following the trials of last October’s wine country wildfires.
“This week was a testament to how much our trade partners value their connections to Napa Valley, our vintners and their wines,” said Linda Reiff, president and CEO of the NVV. “We are deeply grateful for their positive spirit and outpouring of support, from last fall through today.”
Wines from 2016, the fifth in a string of highly-regarded Napa Valley vintages, were the stars of the show at the barrel tasting and futures auction, hosted by the NVV.
“The 2016 vintage showcases the perfect combination of power, purity of fruit and supple, silken textures that are the hallmark of Napa Valley,” said Dustin Cano of Meritage Wine Market in Encinitas, California, a longtime Premiere Napa Valley supporter. “There is a balance to the wines and a freshness that makes them gorgeous early, but with the intensity, structure and backbone to age beautifully. Classic Napa!”
Premiere Napa Valley features limited-edition lots – just 60 to 240 bottles of each wine – sold as futures exclusively to retailers, restaurateurs, country clubs and wholesalers who become the sole owners of the wines they purchase. Each wine is made one time only for the Premiere Napa Valley portfolio, never to be replicated. Every bottle is hand-numbered and signed by the winemaker, creating exceptional allure for wine collectors searching for rare Napa Valley additions for their cellars.
The 217 auction lots were purchased by 58 successful bidders, including 11 new buyers and three returning from years ago.
Top selling lots included offerings from Silver Oak, Alpha Omega, Rombauer Vineyards, VHR – Vine Hill Ranch, Staglin Family Vineyard, Chappellet Vineyard, Hourglass, Ovid Napa Valley, Shafer Vineyards, Quilt Wines and Duckhorn Vineyards.
In addition to today’s barrel tasting and live auction at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, the weeks before and after this year’s Premiere were packed with educational programs, also organized by the NVV: The Symposium for Professional Wine Writers at Meadowood Napa Valley, two different Experience Napa Valley immersion programs, the association’s annual membership meeting, the Vintage Perspective Tasting and dozens of preview parties and tastings for visiting trade.
For more information and to view the Premiere Napa Valley wine portfolio, visit premierenapavalley.com.
Photos are available in the Premiere Napa Valley Week gallery.
Other highlights of the week can be found on the #PNV18 social media feed.
About the Napa Valley Vintners
The Napa Valley Vintners nonprofit trade association has been cultivating excellence since 1944 by inspiring its 550 members to consistently produce wines of the highest quality, to provide environmental leadership and to care for the extraordinary place they call home. Learn more at napavintners.com.
Contact: Patsy McGaughy, Communications Director - 707.968.4207, pmcgaughy@napavintners.com
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