Ancestry & Artistry Raises $1 Million

The Antinori Family was pleased to offer the following donation to Auction Napa Valley benefitting local Napa Valley Charities. Ancestry and Artistry raised more than $1 million for the Auction, which was established in 1981 by the Napa Valley Vintners to raise needed funds for healthcare, youth services and affordable housing non-profits. The Auction has been blessed over the years to host wine lovers from both near and far, bidders who have helped shape the Auction as the premier charity wine auction in the world--this must attend event convenes the first weekend in June each year. Auction Napa Valley has been able to give to the Napa Valley community more than $85 million. 

Ancestry and Artistry

"Complex, stylish, sophisticated, with a bouquet both elegant and earthy," is how ‘60 Minutes' journalist Morley Safer described the Antinori family history, a narrative about devotion to winemaking that is woven through six centuries and 26 generations, and stretches from the family's legendary vineyards in Tuscany and Umbria to their newest estate in California, Antica Napa Valley.

Marchese Piero Antinori invites the winning bidder and a guest to experience his family's winemaking legacy and meet family members along the way, beginning in Florence and continuing through the Tuscan countryside and on to Napa Valley. It's a journey colored with artists and poets, popes and politicians, and always with a profound respect for tradition and the terroir of the local area.

The winning bidder will begin their discovery of Antica Napa Valley when they take home four 3L bottles of 2006 Antica Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Then you and a guest are invited back to Napa Valley for two days and nights at Villagio Inn and Spa in Yountville. Your journey will take you to our wine estate located on a high plain in the eastern mountains of the celebrated Napa Valley. Its hilly terrain, rocky soils and beautiful landscape create above all an estate ideal for winegrowing.

Alessia Antinori will host you for dinner where you will sip through the vintages of Antica Napa Valley while enjoying Napa Valley cuisine. Alessia, Marchese Antinori's youngest daughter and a winemaker in her own right, will share with you her family's history and their love for Antica Napa Valley.

The following day, enjoy a relaxing morning learning about traditional Florentine cuisine while cooking alongside the winery chef. After, lunch will be served overlooking the vineyards of the estate. Of course, this is all in preparation for your visit to Tuscany!

Lufthansa Business Class flight accommodations will transport you to Florence where you will spend two nights in a luxury hotel. By day, enjoy the city's historically significant treasures, including a once-in-a-lifetime tour of Palazzo Antinori, the family's residence and business headquarters since 1506. This illustrious example of the Florentine renaissance architectural style features works by Tintoretto, Della Robbia and Vannini. Your artistic exploration continues later with a private guided tour of the Uffizi Gallery, one of the world's oldest and most famous museums.

From Florence you'll travel by private car to the Antinori family's Tuscan estates. Tenuta Tignanello, in Chianti Classico, is where tradition and modernity met to create the original SuperTuscan. Nearby is the Badia, a Passignano estate surrounding the town's medieval abbey and monastery cellars. Two nights' accommodations at the Fonte de' Medici luxury farmhouse completes your stay in Chianti Classico.

In the Tuscan coastal region of Bolgheri, a private helicopter ride will showcase the majesty of Bolgheri and the family's Guado al Tasso estate. You also will enjoy two nights at the Tombolo Talasso Hotel with spa appointments featuring Mediterranean-influenced therapies.

A final night in Florence completes your travels through Italy.

For more details about Auction Napa Valley visit:   http://www.auctionnapavalley.com/

For more details about Antinori visit: www.Antinori.it.com