Loading
The Screaming Eagle has landed, literally at Naples Airport.
The rarest of rare wine verticals has arrived and is now safely ensconced at ideal temperature, awaiting its turn as the featured attraction at the 19th annual Naples Winter Wine Festival scheduled for Jan. 26, at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.
The Naples Winter Wine Festival is among the most anticipated events in Southwest Florida. This year's edition will uncork an opportunity to own one of the rarest and most collectible verticals of California wine. Called lot No. 7, it features eight 3-liter bottles of Screaming Eagle’s first cabernet sauvignon bottlings, spanning vintages 1992-1999. Screaming Eagle, the wine that kick-started California’s cult cabernet phenomenon and transformed the world of wine, remains its rarest and most collectible.
But not just anyone can bid for the opportunity to sniff, swirl and sip — or save — this rare opportunity. Bidders must be pre-qualified by sending an email to [email protected] to apply for public bidding access.
The Naples Winter Wine Festival is one of the world’s most prestigious charity wine auctions, offering a weekend of world-class food and wine during intimate dinners in private homes. Attendees to the main event bid on travel and wine experiences during a live auction. Since 2001, the event has raised more than $176 million for the Naples Children & Education Foundation, which is the festival's founding organization and beneficiary.
This year's Screaming Eagle auction is a new twist, opening bidding to a discriminating public.
“This rare vertical is poised to attract the attention of the wine collecting world, which is why we are opening bidding to the wine collecting community at large,” 2019 festival co-chairman Tom Koehn says in a statement. “Having been owned by just one collector, the wine has impeccable provenance.”
Large format bottles of Screaming Eagle have never been offered for sale by the winery, and this vertical is the only known set in existence. Originally purchased by NCEF Honorary Trustee Ron Kuhn in 2001 at Auction Napa Valley, the wines have since been stored in his temperature- and humidity-controlled cellar and were delivered to Naples via private plane.
“We couldn’t be prouder to raise the essential funds needed to support the underprivileged children in Collier County,” Naples Children & Education Foundation CEO Maria Jiminez-Lara tells Coffee Talk, “and we are excited to kick off another year that represents the giving spirit of Naples.”
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
