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January may seem far away, but the organizers of the Naples Winter Wine Festival are busy planning over-the-top auction lots and touting renowned vintners.
One of the auction lots is fit for a king: The winner gets a private tour of the Versailles chateaux outside of Paris and a rare dinner in the private apartments of Louis XV.
Other exotic lots include a weeklong cruise in Burgundy's wine region of France, a trip to Asia on a private jet and a trip to Florence, Italy, to visit the luxury jewelry showroom of Fratelli Piccini.
For those who prefer to stay closer to home, one auction lot includes an exclusive dinner with country superstar Martina McBride.
Tickets to the wine festival cost $10,000 per couple and are limited to 580 guests. The sold-out event in January this year raised more than $12.5 million for children's charities in Collier County. In 2016, the event will be held Jan. 28 to 31 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples.
Of course, the Bacchanalian festival will attract some of the world's top vintners, many of them from California. Among them: Bo Barrett of Chateau Montelena, Ted Baseler of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, and honored vintners Paul and Emily Michael of Peter Michael Winery.
Since its inception in 2001, the wine festival has raised more than $135 million for the founding nonprofit organization, The Naples Children & Education Foundation.
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