As
expected, this year's
Naples Wine
Festival broke records. The auction
brought in $12.2
million, a full million over
last year's total. 100
percent of the money raised will go go to help children. Last year, 20 charities received $7.04 million of the $11.2
million raised. Tickets to the event cost $7,500 per couple and bidding was held in a large white tent with tables
decorated with a brightly-colored circus theme. Some of the highest bids included a 2006 silver-gray Continental Flying
Spur Bentley for a high bid of $440,000, $520,000 for a "Capri Red" 2006 Ferrari Spyder and $520,000 for
a one-week yachting excursion on the Mediterranean. Emeril Lagasse joined in the fun offering to cook an additional meal
to add to those donated by four other famous chefs in an auction lot called "Kick it Up a Notch in the Big
Apple" and acted as temporary auctioneer. Lagasse also bid $420,000, with a second bidder, for an auction lot
called "The Perfect Getaway," featuring a trip with six couples for seven days and six nights aboard the
177-foot yacht Katharine through the Mediterranean Sea. The article doesn't say who won the Rolls-Royce Phantom that
was auctioned off.
