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HALL’s estate vineyards encompass more than 500 acres of classic Bordeaux varietals—Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. As winegrowers, the Halls have a strong respect for the environment and a commitment to cutting-edge vineyard technology to yield the highest quality grapes. Through meticulous attention to detail in the vineyards, HALL wines are able to express the unique and diverse character of Napa Valley’s soils and climate. Tonight, you can bring home a Double Magnum of one of their best, the 2011 Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon. This 2011 bottling is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon fruit selected from a spectrum of vineyards—St. Helena to Howell Mountain to the HALL Sacrashe estate in Rutherford. Perfectly integrated, the wine’s palate teems with soft and lingering tannins, with notes of black currant and candied violets. It is a pure and nuanced wine to enjoy now and over the next 15+ years. Wine Spectator awarded it 93 points, saying, “Beautifully orchestrated, rich and juicy offering an opulent array of deliciously ripe and layered red and black fruits, with blackberry, currant and raspberry flavors, shaded by mocha and toasty-cedary oak nuances.” The time is now.
OPENING BID
$500
INCLUDES
One 3-Liter Bottle
DONOR
HALL Wines, St. Helena, California
HALL Wines is crafting some of the best Cabernets in the Napa Valley these days. Bid on this lot and you will understand why. This gorgeous Double Magnum of HALL’s 2012 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon does not disappoint. It is the quintessential Cabernet Sauvignon—dark garnet in color, with strong aromas of pure dark fruit and a floral lift of fresh rose. The palate is bright, concentrated and dense. This wine incorporates choice fruit from vineyards throughout Napa Valley—from small, rugged hillside sites of HALL’s partner growers to each of their organic estate vineyards. By blending these various lots, they have created a rich panorama on the palate, a landscape of complexity and character that clearly defines Napa Valley
OPENING BID
$200
INCLUDES
One 3-Liter Bottle
DONOR
HALL Wines, St. Helena, California
Jump into this fantastic auction lot with both feet and come away with a two-week stay in a two-bedroom suite at the Four Seasons Aviara in Carlsbad, California, near San Diego. This is a beautiful Four Seasons Resort and the timing is perfect for a family vacation before the kids go back to school. The staff goes out of their way to make young guests feel welcome, and a resourceful concierge is always close at hand to help arrange all sorts of fun. Your stay is also during the Del Mar Thoroughbred Racetrack Season and the track is just minutes away, as are the beautiful beaches of north San Diego. The Aviara also boasts a gorgeous golf course and multiple pools. The area has tons of fun activities for all ages—check out the San Diego Zoo, Legoland, Disneyland, the Aquarium, Seaworld and more!
*Dates are August 23 through September 5, 2015.
OPENING BID
$1,500
INCLUDES
One Two-Week Stay for Four
DONOR
Tania A. Modic & Bruce Gray
This bottle of wine almost speaks for itself. But let’s add a few more words. Gemstone Vineyard is a small, family-owned producer of estate wines. Their focus is on crafting richly textured red wines from Bordeaux varietals grown on the 16-acre hillside property in the Yountville appellation of Napa Valley. Esteemed winemaker Philippe Melka handcrafts the Gemstone Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, and this Magnum of the 2012 vintage was given 93 points by Robert Parker at The Wine Advocate. He sang its praises, saying, “The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is spectacular. A beautifully built wine with an opaque purple color and a wonderful nose of crème de cassis, blackberries, spring flowers and a hint of smoky oak, this medium to full-bodied, well-delineated 2012 exhibits terrific purity and density as well as a long finish. This superb Cabernet Sauvignon will spend 21 months in 80% new French oak. It may turn out to be the finest Cabernet Sauvignon Gemstone has made to date.” Enough said, right? Make it yours.
OPENING BID
$150
INCLUDES
One 1.5-Liter Bottle
DONOR
Gemstone Vineyard, Yountville, California
This bottle of wine almost speaks for itself. But let’s add a few more words. Gemstone Vineyard is a small, family-owned producer of estate wines. Their focus is on crafting richly textured red wines from Bordeaux varietals grown on the 16-acre hillside property in the Yountville appellation of Napa Valley. Esteemed winemaker Philippe Melka handcrafts the Gemstone Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, and this Magnum of the 2012 vintage was given 93 points by Robert Parker at The Wine Advocate. He sang its praises, saying, “The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is spectacular. A beautifully built wine with an opaque purple color and a wonderful nose of crème de cassis, blackberries, spring flowers and a hint of smoky oak, this medium to full-bodied, well-delineated 2012 exhibits terrific purity and density as well as a long finish. This superb Cabernet Sauvignon will spend 21 months in 80% new French oak. It may turn out to be the finest Cabernet Sauvignon Gemstone has made to date.” Enough said, right? Make it yours.
OPENING BID
$300
INCLUDES
One 1.5-Liter Bottle
DONOR
Gemstone Vineyard, Yountville, California
Turtle Ridge is a small winery owned by the Price family in St. Helena, California. These select bottles can’t be found just anywhere. To get your hands on a bottle of Turtle Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon you need to know someone who knows someone. Lucky for you, we have six bottles available for you to take home. The 2012 Turtle Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon is balanced and on the nose, the wine shows spice of cinnamon with lovely fruit undertones. It holds its own against the big Cabernets and is a very easy drinking wine. The wine pairs well with all dishes and is very versatile. A half-case of the 2012 vintage will be perfectly at home in your wine cellar. Don’t let this one get away. You can’t go wrong with these special bottles of wine.
OPENING BID
$200
INCLUDES
Six 750ml Bottles
DONOR
Turtle Ridge Wines, St. Helena, California
Located at the base of the Mayacamas Mountains in the far northwest corner of the Rutherford appellation, the Flora Springs estate is in the heart of the Napa Valley. Ninety percent of Flora Springs’ red wines are sourced from its organically-farmed estate vineyards, and all of these wines are crafted in a solar-powered 19th-century stone winery and caves. Tonight, you can take home a Double Magnum of the winery’s 2012 Trilogy, a Cabernet blend that brings together Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Petite Verdot in a wine that is rich, robust and elegantly refined. This multi-layered wine was given 90 points by The Wine Advocate. With beautiful overlapping aromas of cassis, black licorice, olallieberry and sandalwood, it offers deeply concentrated flavors of cherry, mulberry and raspberry pastilles mingled with notes of white pepper and dark chocolate. A product of a great vintage, this is a big Trilogy, with a generous texture and a long, luxurious finish that lasts and lasts. After more than three decades of crafting elegant, complex wines from their Napa Valley estate vineyards, Trilogy remains one of Flora Springs’ most revered legacies.
OPENING BID
$300
INCLUDES
One 3-Liter Bottle
DONOR
Flora Springs Winery & Vineyards, St. Helena, California
Part of the venerable Antinori family of Italian wines, the Guado al Tasso estate is located on the Tuscan coast, southwest of Florence. The rolling hillsides surrounding a splendid plain slope gently towards the sea and create a micro-climate with unique characteristics. Guado al Tasso, their flagship wine, expresses all of the force and suppleness of this corner of the region. It has contributed to Bolgheriʼs rise to the level of the most important areas of Europe’s viticulture, expressing a decisively Mediterranean character of power, elegance and balance. This gem of a bottle, the 2009 Tenuta Guado al Tasso Bolgheri Superiore red blend, displays a nose with initial balsamic sensations followed by aromas of ripe fruit and spices. On the palate it is velvety, with soft tannins and much finesse. The finish and aftertaste are well supported by savory mineral notes and much length and persistence. This wine needs to find its way into your cellar tonight.
OPENING BID
$80
INCLUDES
One 750ml Bottle
DONOR
Private Donor
Stephan Asseo, owner and winemaker at L’Aventure Winery, began making wine in 1982. Over the next 15 years, Stephan developed into an artisan winemaker of fastidious craftsmanship and gained a reputation as a maverick vigneron. However, his true desire was to be more innovative than AOC law would allow. In 1996, this led him on a quest for a great terroir, where he could pursue his ideal as a winemaker. After searching for over a year among the world’s great wine fields, Stephan found Paso Robles. Stephan immediately “fell in love” with the unique terroir and began his adventure. The spirit of L’Aventure Winery is most evident in its “Paso Blends,” including tonight’s offering of six bottles of the 2007 Estate Cuvée, a blend of Syrah/Cabernet Sauvignon/Petit Verdot. In this hard-to-find vintage, the blending of premium varietals increases the authenticity, complexity and balance to create a great bottle of red wine. Take this lot home and find out for yourself.
OPENING BID
$350
INCLUDES
Six 750ml Bottles
DONOR
L’Aventure Winery, Paso Robles, California
William Hill Estate Winery is a special place. A confluence of characteristics makes the 140-acre estate an ideal vineyard. Set on a benchland with a southwestern exposure, the vines bask in abundant sunlight. The vineyard is close to the valley floor climatically, but the volcanic soil and the size and vigor of the vines means William Hill is more like a mountaintop vineyard. These elements translate to elegant, expressive red Bordeaux wines. The bottlings in the winery’s Bench Blend Collection illustrate the quintessential characteristics of Napa Valley: lush, expressive fruit. These wines are soft, elegant and beautifully integrated, melding grapes from hand-selected vineyard blocks that deliver intense flavor characteristics. They are a testament to the extraordinary vineyards of southern Napa. Tasting notes for the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Bench Blend describe it as “…rich and dark with aromas and flavors of blackberry and hints of chocolate. The fruit flavors are balanced by notes of brown spice and sweet vanilla from fine oak integration. The soft, plush mouthfeel, intense fruit and silky tannins evolve into an impressive fruit-focused finish.” A case of this beautiful creation is up for grabs tonight. You know you want it.
OPENING BID
$800
INCLUDES
Twelve 750ml Bottles
DONOR
Private Donor