Napa Futures Auction Raises $4.2 Million
Trade bidders focused on unique lots from low-yielding 2015 vintage
St. Helena, Calif.—The Premiere Napa Valley futures auction held Saturday raised $4.2 million to back the Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) while bringing together wineries and their trade customers for a productive mixture of business and pleasure.
The low-yielding 2015 harvest accounted for 87% of the 217 total lots offered for sale at the 21st annual event. The 62 successful trade bidders included 12 who bought lots for the first time, ranging mostly from 5 cases to 20 cases of wines chosen specifically for the auction and not otherwise available commercially.
The highest priced lots were from Scarecrow Wine, Alpha Omega, Arkenstone, Silver Oak Cellars, Robert Mondavi Winery, Honig Vineyard & Winery, Rombauer Vineyards, Shafer Vineyards, a group lot from Arrow&Branch, Caldwell, Covert and Italics wineries, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Dalla Valle Vineyards and Staglin Family Vineyards.
Total bidding was below the average of the past five years, during which totals ranged from $3.1 million in 2013 to $6 million in 2015. But that didn’t seem to bother Michael Honig, chair of the NVV board of directors and president of Honig Vineyard & Winery.
“We’re thrilled with the outcome of this year’s Premiere Napa Valley,” he said. “It’s been more than 20 years since the NVV created America’s first barrel-futures tasting and auction for the trade. We want the Premiere Napa Valley brand to be coveted around the world.”
The NVV offered an online auction component for the second year, and it accounted for 20% of the lots sold. Open to trade bidders anywhere in the world, 270 accounts from California to Canada to Japan registered to bid on the 45 lots that generated nearly $500,000 of the day’s total sales.
Winery events from mid-week through the Saturday barrel tasting and auction were designed for trade and media members. For Brian Kelleher, vice president of sales and marketing at Pahlmeyer winery, Premiere week is an ideal time to welcome customers to the winery and the valley to create or deepen business relationships.
“It’s a great opportunity to see our top customers, including our importer in Japan, Nakagawa Trading Co., who come once a year for Premiere,” Kelleher said. “We hosted a dinner at the winery for our customers, and this year we introduced the new generation to them. Cleo Pahlmeyer is now our communications director.”
Premiere Napa Valley features small lots of unique wines sold as futures exclusively to retailers, restaurateurs and wholesalers who become the sole owners of the wines they purchase at the auction. The Premiere Napa Valley portfolio showcases some of Napa Valley’s rarest and highest quality commercially available wines. Upon release, every bottle is hand-signed and individually numbered by the winemaker.
“Our customers love Napa Valley,” said Michael Osborn, founder of Wine.com, who purchased lots in both the Premiere Napa Valley live and online auctions. “The wines we tasted from the 2015 vintage were extraordinary. Although the harvest was smaller, that seems to have paid off in terms of quality.”
Collectors wishing to obtain one-of-a-kind Premiere Napa Valley wines for their own cellars can search the portfolio by vintage, grape variety, AVA, producer and where to buy at premierenapavalley.com.
The NVV is a nonprofit trade association with more than 525 members.
