KCBX WINE AUCTION SMASHES ALL-TIME BID RECORD

AVILA BEACH - The 1998 Central Coast Wine Classic concludes eight days of
food and wine activities during which an estimated 7500 people attended a
variety of seminars, vertical tastings, luncheons, dinners, cooking
demonstrations, vineyard symposiums and auctions. Fine wine and cuisine
were in evidence throughout the festivities, as culinary honorees Madeline
Kamman, Narsai David and Gary Danko, and the exectutive Chefs of the Four
Seasons Resort Hotels in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Newport Beach and
Carlsbad, presented opulent multi-course dinners from Hearst Castle in San
Simeon to the tented Vintage Dinner at the Avila Beach Resort.

Press Honoree, Remington Norman from London, England, hosted a series of
vertical tastings that included Chateau de Beaucastel, Qupe Bien Nacido
Reserve Syrah, Penfolds Grange, Bonny Doon Cigare Volant and Zaca Mesa "Z"
Cuvee, all in Riedel stemware provided by Georg Riedel of Riedel Glas
Austria, whose symposium on wine glasses appropriate to the grape variety
was one of the most popular educational components of the week.

It was the Live Auctions, however, that provided the most excitement, as
bidders enthusiastically raised their paddles for a variety of specail
cuvees, rare and fine wines, and lifstyle items, which propelled the
auction totals above $680,000, eclipsing last year's record by $200,000.

The highest single wine bottle prices were paided for a Salmanazar of 1996
Talley Rosemary's Vineyard Arroyo Grande Valley Pinot Noir at $4,300, a 27
liter bottle of 1995 Justin Paso Robles Isosceles and a double magnum of
1995 Hartwell Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon at $3500 apiece, a Salmanazar
of Wine Classic Comemoritive Cuvee and a double magnum of 1949 Chateau
Margaux at $3,000, a Salmanazar of Wine Classic Commemorative Cuvee and a
double magnum of 1949 Chateau Margaux at $3,000 apiece, a Jeroboam of 1989
Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape at $2800 and a five liter bottle
of 1996 Au Bon Climat Santa Maria Valley Cuvee Isabelle Pinot Noir, selling
for $2600.

Two of the most sought-after collections were a compilation of 20 Magnums
of Cabernet Sauvignon from the heralded 1994 vintage at $9,000, and a
collection of 14 double magnums representing the winery members of the Edna
Valley Arroyo Grande Valley Vinters Association, a 1998 Wine Classic
Honoree, that brought $5800 dollars.

The most popular lifestyle lots were a trip to Paris, Burgundy and
Champagne, that garnered the highest bid of the auction at $30,000 by Hoy
Buell of San Luis Obispo, A Crystal Cruises trip from San Francisco to
Alaska at $16,000 and a Jaguar XJ8 year's lease for $13,500.

The Wine Classic Commermorative painting of Santa Barbara artist James Paul
Brown brought $6,000 and the Commemorative painting of San Luis Obispo
artist Robert Reynolds reached $5,000.

Even the auctioneers got into the bidding, as Bruce Kaiser of Butterfield
and Butterfield auctioned a dinner at the home of Dennis Foley of
Christie's for $11,000 and then Foley auctioned a luncheon with Bruce
Kaiser at San Francisco's Pastis restaurant for $10,000.

The top ten bidders list wan an elevated level with nine of the top ten in
excess of $20,000 in total winning bids.

Some of the proceeds from the Central Coast Wine Classic beneficiary KCBX
to fund scholarship at area universities in Wine Marketing and Stuido Arts,
as well as underwrite educational programs for the Santa Barbara County
Vinters Association, the Paso Robles Vinters and Growers Association, the
Edna Valley Arroyo Grande Valley Vinters Association and the Central Coast
Wine Growers Association.

Copyright 1998 Five Cities Times Press Recorder

Checked-by: Richard Lake