'Irrational generosity': Naples Winter Wine Festival raises more than $20 million
To call the 20th Naples Winter Wine Festival at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples a celebration would not quite capture the fundraiser’s atmosphere.
And with an unofficial fundraising total exceeding $20 million, the outpouring of cheer makes sense. As one of the festival’s founders and trustees Valerie Gargiulo said, the tone of the event is one of “irrational generosity.”
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"It's not about what (bidders) are getting," she said. "It's about what they're going to do for the children."
Jeff Gargiulo, Valerie’s husband, are both founders and trustees of the Naples Winter Wine Festival and Naples Children and Education Foundation. In the festival's 20 years, the couple said, it’s grown tremendously. And, prior to the auction, they hoped to break a fundraising milestone of $200 million since the festival's conception.
With the help of auction lots and the generosity of those attending the auction, they succeeded.
The 20th Naples Winter Wine Festival followed the theme of “Celebrate: 20 Years of Cheers.” It was a multi-day affair, beginning Thursday with a pre-festival wine tasting and luncheon, moving to Friday with a meet-the-kids day and peaking with a live-auction Saturday before ending with a celebration brunch Sunday.
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The tone of celebration was evident: chandeliers dangled from an air-conditioned enclosed tent full of tables for more than 700 guests. Tablecloths ranged from teals to greens to layered with purple sequins, while live music and cuisine like a tuna and watermelon Dashi with an avocado jalapeno salsa delighted guests.
Chef de Cuisine Sarah Gruenberg said she enjoyed the opportunity to curate her menu and network with so many talented guests.
“It’s really about running the show,” she said. “The thing that makes Naples so incredible is the range of wineries they’re able to connect with.”
One of the pairings Gruenberg was most proud of, she said, was a take on her grandmother’s stuffed cabbage, enhanced with black truffles and a porcini sauce. It was paired with a 2009 Harlan family Promontory, she said.
After a lunch for guests, an announcement beckoned attendees to the tent and encouraged them to “Bid high and bid often.”
And they did: U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney won the first lot, “20 Years of Cheers!” It included 35 Magnums and two 750 milliliter bottles of wine from the festival at $230,000.
"I believe it's the most important wine festival right now," Rooney said. "We became trustees because we felt the cause was compelling."
Later, Rooney decided to donate his winnings toward lot 14, “Making Megawaves,” which included a week-long cruise for four couples on the yacht Gitana, meaning a wine from every vintner represented at the Naples Winter Wine Festival would be aboard for the journey.
Katharine Anderson Groethe snagged Lot 7, “Win an English Triple Crown,” for $480,000. Her lot includes 11 nights in the United Kingdom with VIP admission to Wimbledon and the British Open. As a tennis player, Groethe said the opportunity to have a private lesson with the likes of John McEnroe and Stan Smith was too good of an opportunity to pass when coupled with the local investment.
“There’s nothing like this in the world,” she said.
Vintners, like Ferrari Winery’s President and CEO Matteo Bruno Linelli, found themselves just as impressed as some of the traditional guests.
“I heard a lot of great things about this,” Linelli said, and the festival’s purpose of supporting at-need children in the community “made all this even more interesting for me.”
“I found a great atmosphere,” he said. “It’s nice to see the passion for wine is mixed with something good for these kids.”
Perhaps one of the auctioneers, Humphrey Butler, put it best as he encouraged attendees to up their ante: “It’s only money, for God’s sake, you can’t take it with you.”
The top lot of the event went for $1,050,000. Lot 49, "When the Majestic Meets the Mediterranean," will send five couples to southern France or Italy aboard the super-yacht Majestic.
The final paddle raise of the evening exceeded $5 million in funds raised, though all totals are preliminary pending an official release.
The Naples Daily News is a sponsor for this event.
For those who couldn't make the auction, there is an online auction available until Tuesday at 5 p.m. Access it at https://www.nwwfonlineauction.com/.
Rachel Fradette is an education reporter for the Naples Daily News. Follow her on Twitter: @Rachel_Fradette, email her at rfradette@gannett.com.
Andrew Atkins is a Naples Daily News features reporter. Contact him via email at andrew.atkins@naplesnews.com or on Twitter at @andrewjatkins.
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