Naples Winter Wine Festival ranked No. 1, again
SHELBY REYNOLDS
The Naples Winter Wine Festival has once again topped Wine Spectator magazine’s list of the highest earning charity wine auctions in the country.
The magazine — the definitive authority on charity wine auctions — has compiled a top 10 list each year since its inception 2001, examining total live auction-bid earnings, excluding paddle-raise or fund-a-need lots.
The latest list reviewing charity wine auctions in 2016 places the Naples festival on the top with $10.5 million, edging out the Auction Napa Valley by $685,000.
This is the 11th time the Naples Winter Wine Festival, which benefits the Naples Children & Education Foundation, has landed at the top of the list.
Another $625,000 was collected at the 2016 auction in a fund-a-need lot to benefit the NCEF’s Early Learning Initiative.
“It is particularly rewarding to earn the top spot because it signifies another year of great impact for kids in Collier County,” 2016 festival cochair Sandi Moran said in a news release.
“The continued success of the Naples Winter Wine Festival has really been a team effort — our wonderful group of trustees, vintners, chefs, sommeliers, staff and volunteers all work together to make the event as unique and exciting as possible, and to drive home how important the auction is to our community.”