Contributing to Charity & Wine Geekery Alike, the 25th Annual Telluride Wine Festival, June 22-25, is Raising the Bar with this Year's Charity Auction. COUNTER VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT BLOG

   

This year, the longest-running festival of its kind in the Rocky Mountains is counting on one of the nation’s preeminent celebrity charity wine auctioneers, Tom DiNardo of DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers, to work wine collectors into a record-setting frenzy, with proceeds going to local charities.  “It’s a tremendous honor and privilege to be involved with Colorado’s most scenic and revered wine and culinary event,” says DiNardo, who boasts of five world records for proceeds generated at charity wine auctions. “I look forward to working amid the sheer beauty of Telluride and selling rare wines and lifestyle experiences to some of the world’s top bidders — people who truly appreciate the finer things in life. I’ve been doing benefit auctions since the beginning,” says DiNardo, who helped the Telluride Wine Festival generate $30,000 in net profit through the wine auction in 2004. DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers is ranked among the top four benefit auction firms in the country. “I’ve firmly established myself as an expert in charity wine auctions through selling some of the rarest vintages and most impressive-tasting wines from around the world. This year,” DiNardo says, “we’re going to take the Telluride Wine Festival to a whole new level.”

Held in the historic town of Telluride, high in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado amid stunning views of snowcapped peaks soaring to more than 14,000 feet above sea level, the four-day Telluride Wine Festival features more than six dozen wineries from around the world pouring their finest at venues throughout town, as well as in Mountain Village, just a gondola ride away.  Bidding begins Thursday, June 22, with a live benefit auction during the Opening Night Celebration for Winemakers and Patrons. A silent auction follows on Friday afternoon, June 23, at the festival’s Grand Tasting.  During the grand finale, Saturday evening, June 24, during the Patron’s Dinner Gala and Annual Benefit Auction — will be the event’s signature benefit auction with dozens of items, including the festival’s official artwork this year, a painting created by Sally Strand, a native Coloradoan.

Some of the wines, culinary items and travel packages to be auctioned during this year’s Telluride Wine Festival and benefit auctions includes:

• The 2004 Estate Cuvee Staircase — a bottle, a magnum and a double-magnum of Stephan Asseo’s signature Syrah /Cabernet Sauvignon “Paso blend” — from L’Aventure Winery.
• A 6 -liter bottle of 2002 Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, from Raymond Vineyards, signed by the winemaker.
• A 5-liter bottle of Baron de Ley Reserva 2000 from Frederick Wildman and Sons.
• A 3-liter bottle of 2002 Kenwood Vineyards ' Jack London Vineyard' Cabernet Sauvignon, donated by Heck Estates.
• Two nights’ stay at Long Meadow Ranch, in the Mayacamas Mountains of California, high above the Napa Valley.

More info on the 25th annual Telluride Wine Festival at www.telluridewinefestival.com & on DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers at www.DiNardoandLordAuctioneers.com.

- Lesley Scott

(photo cahnrsalumni.wsu.edu) Counter Vegetarian Restaurant and Organic Wine & Martini Bar New York Organic Vegetarian Vegan Biodynamic Telluride Wine Festival Wine