Sports car gets highest bid at Naples Winter Wine Festival

A 2017 McLaren 570GT scooped the winning bid at this year’s Naples Winter Wine Festival in Florida, going under the hammer for a staggering $480,000.

McLaren 570GT

The supercar, which can reach speeds of over 200 miles per hour, was among the 62 lots at the annual charity wine auction, which raised over $15 million for the Naples Children & Education Foundation.

Thus far, the foundation has given grants to over 40 non-profit organisations and helped the lives of over 200,000 children.

Frenzied bidding in full swing

Among the other tempting lots on offer at the auction was a week-long cruise to the Bahamas aboard a 126-foot Feadship yacht, which went for $600,000.

Another bidder paid $460,000 for a private jet trip to Italy’s Amalfi Coast that includes dinners at Michelin-starred restaurants.

Meanwhile, a Hootie and the Blowfish super fan shelled out $450,000 for a live performance by the band’s lead vocalist Darius Rucker, a signed guitar and dinner whipped up by Silver Oak chef Dominic Orsini.

A lot featuring over 100 bottles of rare wines, including magnums of 1997 Joseph Phelps Insignia and 1982 Château Pichon Lalande, sold for $210,000.

Another, titled “Rare, Rarer, Rarest” offered six Jeroboams of Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair Aux Brûlées Vosne-Romanée from 2008 to 2013, a private tour of the estate and a dinner including a five-vintage pairing at Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair hosted by the Comte and Comtesse Liger-Belair, sold for $210,000.

The weekend began with a vertical tasting of Harlan Estate hosted by Bill Harlan that included 100 pointers from the 2001 and 2007 vintages.

Among the guests in attendance were fourth-generation Bordeaux winemaker Pierre Lurton and celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.

“I’ve never seen a wine auction with that much energy and excitement. It ran for over four hours and the energy in the room was high the entire time,” Puck told Wine Spectator.