This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Premiere Napa Valley auction opens on 1 June
The annual Premiere Napa Valley wine auction is due to take place on 1-2 June this year, and will feature 149 ‘one-of-a-kind’ wine lots from the last three vintages.
This year the trade-only event is a blend of in-person and virtual tastings and bidding.
A majority of the lots – each from between 60- to 240-bottle offerings made especially for the event – are from the 2019 vintage, along with a few 2018s with more barrel age and a handful of 2020 whites and Pinot Noirs.
The 149 lots are being offered by 149 different wineries. Auction bidders must register proof of a resale license and can bid from anywhere in the world.
“After a wet winter and a cool, long growing season, it’s no surprise to find the 2019 wines are generous and layered,” said Diana Snowden Seysses, winemaker at Snowden Vineyards.
“They are bright and balanced, offering beautiful ripeness and fine-grained tannins with no excess.”
“The auction will be livestreaming from the veranda outside the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone,” added Teresa Wall, senior director of marketing communications for Napa Valley Vintners.
Bids will be taken in one of three ways – online, in-person by raising a paddle, and via telephone. Bidders can also enter their max bids prior to the live auction.
“Wine is the ultimate connector, and that is what this week is all about. Each of the lots presented at this year’s auction is a reflection of our winemakers’ creative sense of exploration and our passion for crafting remarkable wines,” said Rosemary Cakebread, owner and winemaker of Gallica and co-chair of this year’s auction.
Premiere Napa Valley was created 25 years ago to build relationships with members of the wine trade and to preview the upcoming vintage.
This year, a feature will be online tastings of the three vintage, each led by a noted wine critic.
On Thursday 3 June, James Suckling will lead a tasting and evaluation of the 2018 vintage, followed by Lisa Perotti-Brown MW handling the 2019s while Jeb Dunnuck premiers the 2020s. These seminars are open to anyone who wants to virtually attend.
For more information and to register for the auction and for online wine events, click here. Monies raised at Premiere Napa Valley go toward efforts to promote, protect and enhance the Napa Valley.