2016 Santa Barbara Wine Auction Breaks Records

Beck­men Vine­yards was proud to be a return­ing spon­sor of the San­ta Bar­bara Vint­ners Foundation’s 2016 San­ta Bar­bara Wine Auc­tion, held at the stun­ning Bacara Resort & Spa on Sat­ur­day, March 12, 2016.

Although the final num­ber has not yet been tal­lied, the Auc­tion sur­passed the pre­vi­ous record of $1.1 mil­lion raised in 2014 for Direct Relief, an inter­na­tion­al­ly acclaimed human­i­tar­i­an aid orga­ni­za­tion locat­ed in Gole­ta, CA. Direct Relief will be able to lever­age this year’s dona­tion into more than $30 mil­lion in med­ical aid to 70 coun­tries around the world, focus­ing on mater­nal and child health, the pre­ven­tion and treat­ment of dis­ease, and emer­gency pre­pared­ness and response.

About the Santa Barbara Wine Auction

Cre­at­ed in 2000, the San­ta Bar­bara Wine Auc­tion was devel­oped by the San­ta Bar­bara Vint­ners Foun­da­tion to raise mon­ey for peo­ple across the world to have access to life-sav­ing med­ical aid. More than $4 mil­lion has been raised since the event began, which Direct Relief has lever­aged into almost $100 million.

Dur­ing the evening, atten­dees are able to bid on silent and live auc­tion items relat­ed to wine, food, trav­el, and leisure, and enjoy a three course meal pre­pared by a celebri­ty chef and paired with award win­ning San­ta Bar­bara Coun­ty wines.

Among the tal­ent­ed San­ta Bar­bara Coun­ty wine­mak­ers, wine­grow­ers, and wine afi­ciona­dos were the emcee of the evening, Chris Har­ri­son, host of ABC’s real­i­ty show ​“The Bach­e­lor”, and guest chef Michael Mina, cre­ator of the Michael Mina Restau­rant Group and James Beard Award recip­i­ent. Oth­er celebri­ties in atten­dance includ­ed the Gold­en Globe win­ning actress Jane Lynch and real­i­ty TV star Andrew Firestone.

Hon­orees of the 2016 San­ta Bar­bara Wine Auc­tion includ­ed San­ford & Bene­dict Vine­yard co-founders Richard and Thekla San­ford and Michael Bene­dict, who received the Pio­neer Award, and Bob and Louisa Lindquist, who received the Vint­ners of the Year Award.

Beckmen’s Live Auction Contribution

Beck­men joined togeth­er with Qupé – a win­ery spe­cial­iz­ing in Rhône-style wines from the Bien Naci­do Vine­yard in San­ta Maria, the Sawyer Lindquist Vine­yard in Edna Val­ley, and the Ibar­ra-Young Vine­yard in Los Olivos – to cre­ate a spe­cial live auc­tion item, ​“Blend your Own Bar­rel with Qupé & Beckmen”.

The lucky win­ner will cre­ate a bar­rel of a bio­dy­nam­ic wine blend of Syrah or Grenache with Steve Beck­men, wine­mak­er for Beck­men Vine­yards, and Bob Lindquist, wine­mak­er for Qupé, total­ing 22 cas­es (or 264 bot­tles) of wine. The win­ner will also receive a leg­endary lunch from the Au Bön Cli­mat / Qupé kitchen and a San­ta Maria-style feast at the famous Hitch­ing Post II.

With atten­dees rais­ing their auc­tion pad­dles left and right, the bid esca­lat­ed quick­ly, end­ing at a remark­able $20,000. At this point, both wine­mak­ers decid­ed to dou­ble the auc­tion item for a grand total of $40,000.

Oth­er notable live auc­tion items includ­ed a pri­vate par­ty for 40 at Alma Rosa Win­ery and Indus­tri­al Eats, a 14 day lux­u­ry South African trip for two, a din­ner par­ty for 25 guests at Ran­cho La Cuna pre­pared by renowned Chef Michael Mina, and a two day trip to New York City to attend the 31^st annu­al Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induc­tion Ceremony.