Naples wine auction, the world’s richest and rockingest, draws $14-million for grand wines

Five hundred wine lovers in Naples, Florida bid more than $14-million in a rollicking five hour auction Saturday.

The final total fell short of last year's record $15.6-million, but still added to the nearly $70-million raised for children's charities in Collier County in the eight years of the auction.

Bidders spent an average $200,000 per lot in a five-hour frenzy pumped along by live video, noisemakers and blasts of La Bamba, Good Vibrations, Good Golly Miss Molly and other oldies.

But organizers were not disappointed.

"We're ecstatic" said Ann Bain, a trustee of the Naples Winter Wine Festival. "We're leaving here with $14-million to spend on the children of Collier County," including money for new medical services and other programs in nearby Immokalee.

The lots ranged from full cases and magnums and imperials of great vintages to grand tours of wine country and Antarctica and luxury cars.

One of the most expensive single wines of the night was a 3 liter bottle of Vega Sicilia, one of the most famous Spanish wines, that included a visit to the winery and sold for $190,000. A new 2009 Bentley was auctioned off for $450,000, and a Hollywood  package that included celebrity meals and a walk-on role on Desperate Housewives went for $1-million.

This year's bidding lacked the single $2-million bid for a Rolls Royce that put the auction up to its record figure, but this year's chairman Don Gunther said earlier he was not shooting for a record in this year's economy "We just want to do the best we can."

Gunther, a Naples resident and former vice chairman of Bechtel, made several big bids himself, including $320,000 for a horiontal of Colgin Cellars wines and an appearance on 24.

Other big wine lots included a case of 12 bottles of 1961 Haut-Brion from Bordeaux for $220,000 and six magnums of Screaming Eagle cabernet and two commemorative Harley Davidson motorcycles for $240,000.

Chris Sherman, Times staff writer