On Saturday, July 12, 2008, five hundred and sixty enthusiastic and animated Rare & Fine Wine & Lifestyle Auction attendees bid on an eclectic array of fine wines and wine and food-oriented lifestyle packages that ranged from the Central Coast to Europe. Tom and Kristen Boothe of Portland, Oregon, topped all bidders, followed by past number one bidder Jose Luis Nazar of Los Angeles, Coleman and Jeannie Davis of Tucson, Arizona, three-time top bidders Bill and Sharon Shubin of Sun Valley, Idaho, and Ron and Susan Greenspan of Los Angeles.

The Auction Total of $802,050 included Live Auction proceeds of $698,800, Silent Auction proceeds of $20,850 and Fund-a-Need proceeds of $82,400, the Wine Classic's best Fund-a-Need result in its twenty-four year history.

The Top Auction Lot was an American Airlines/Relais & Chateaux Trip for Four to Wine Country in France for $60,000. Dinners in Santa Barbara and New York City with Bon Appetit magazine's Editor-in-Chief, Barbara Fairchild, brought $42,000. The Top Winery Lots were Dinner for Thirty-Two at Au Bon Climat's Rancho La Cuna for $24,000 and a Vertical Ridge Monte Bello Dinner for Thirty-Two with Ridge Winemaker, Paul Draper, for $24,000. "The Taste of dreams," a Commemorative Art Work by Southern California artist, Yuroz, secured a winning bid of $23,000. The Top Wine Bottle Lots were a "Ratatouille" themed Etched and Hand-Painted Five-Liter Bottle of 2005 Lasseter Family Sonoma County Red Blend, which garnered a winning bid of $18,000, and a bottle of 1945 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild from the cellar of Napa Valley Vintner, Donn Chappellet, which brought $14,000.

The 2009 auction catalog is now available. Use the link on the left side of this page to download the file.

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