Marin Wine Auction- Enjoying Wine, Food & Song For A Good Cause

The sun was out and the wine was flowing this past weekend, as donors and patrons strolled through the Marin Art and Garden Center to bid on items for the very first Marin Wine Auction held by Keiretsu Forum Charitable Foundation. 

Several Marin wineries and vineyards were represented, as well as a few from Napa and Sonoma counties.  Guests snacked on oysters, grilled satay skewers of chicken and salmon and figs wrapped in prosciutto, while listening to the sounds of The California Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet and String Quartet, and then later the jazz sounds of The Michael Aragon Group.  Insalata's and Chef Heidi Krahling provided the yummy food. 

The Keiretsu Forum Charitable Foundation holds a major fundraiser every year, and Matthew Le Merle, Co-President of Keiretsu Forum SF/North Bay explained how they came up with the idea to hold a Marin Wine Auction-

"Several of our members came up with the idea.  We hold an annual charity event, and typically it's a golf and dinner event but wanted to do something different.  There are great wineries in West Marin, and most people didn't know there are even wineries in Marin."

Some of the beneficiaries of the fundraising efforts are the Hanna Boys Center, the Marin Humane Society and Community Land Trust Association of West Marin or CLAM.

The Forum invited all Marin winemakers and growers who either grow grapes in Marin, or who bottle wine in Marin.  It turns out there are very few wineries that do both.  We spoke to one owner, Stewart Johnson of Kendric Vineyards, who does both.  He explained why Marin isn't the powerhouse wine producing region that Napa or Sonoma is-

"The usable soil is spotty, and we have less than 200 acres of vineyards in all of Marin."

Johnson grows grapes on about eight and a half acres out of the 1,500 acres on the property.  He has just produced his third release of Pinot Noir, and makes about 600 cases of wine a year.

Other Marin based wineries or vineyards who poured were Starry Night Winery, West Wind Vineyards, Moon Hill Vineyards, Point Reyes Vineyards, Ross Valley Vineyards and Thomas Fogarty Winery.

Despite the lack of quantity, there is no lack of quality.  Marin produced wines are featured in famed restaurants French Laundry, Chez Panisse, Slanted Door, Zuni and Kuleto.  One guest making the rounds wants to capitalize on the growing Marin wine industry.  She's Beth Niles and she calls herself a "wine concierge" who will give custom-designed wine and cheese tours in the region.   She especially wants to target women, to help them "move off their Chardonnay dependency."

While the winemakers poured, guests bid on silent action items ranging from an original Salvador Dali etching valued at $9,000 to a $35 wine stopper.  There were huge baskets with custom-designed wine selections and the more typical spa packages and resort getaways.

The live auction featured more unusual items ranging from a really neat sounding dinner for 16 at Devil's Gulch Ranch, hosted by famed Marin wine "guru" Mark Pasternak to a week at a French Chateau for 20 of your closest friends- donated by La Merle and Alison Davis. 

At press time, the final fundraising figures were not available.

Keiretsu Forum is a global private equity investment network of angel investors, venture capitalists and institutional investors.