Charity auction nets record $18.3-million

By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published January 28, 2007

NAPLES - Inspired by dinner with the likes of Emeril Legasse, recommendations of wine guru Robert Parker and grand, luxury cars, 500 wine lovers dug deeper into their pockets than ever at Saturday's Naples Winter Wine Festival and donated more than $18-million to charity.

The bids included a record $2-million for a 2007 Rolls-Royce Phaeton drophead coupe. Other rewards included $460,000 for a package of rare wine and walk-on role on the TV series Grey's Anatomy, and $300,000 for California wines and dinner with Robert Redford.

The seventh Naples auction, held under a massive white tent on the grounds of the Ritz Carlton Golf Resort, raises funds for the children of the area, including those in a poor stretch of Immokalee a few miles east of the Ritz. Festival organizers say half of the 40,000 children in Collier County lack vital services.

"Remember, bid early and bid often. It's all for the kids." Co-chairwoman Linda Malone exhorted the crowd. And by the time the final hammer dropped, 72 lots had sold and a Maserati was raffled off at $5,000 a ticket. That added up to $16.4-million under the tent and, with sponsorships, ticket sales and donations, it netted $18.3-million for more than 20 children's agencies.

The figure is the largest raised by any wine affair in the world, and certifies Naples' role in the wine world.

"It is the event," said Legasse, the New Orleans chef and Food TV star.

The contrast between the rich donors and the poor beneficiaries was obvious to all.

But even winning bidders put the emphasis on the children, "Don't write about us," one said, "we're really trivial."

[Last modified January 28, 2007, 00:11:31]