Auction Napa Valley: Give Bottle To Wine’s Sweaty Heroes

I ran a link May 23 about Auction Napa Valley that went to the 19,900+ subscribers of  Wine Industry Insight’s daily News Fetch: “ANV tickets sold out, but you can still participate.”

I’ve also read various other articles about the arrival of the auction high-rollers in their Bentleys and McLarens who are already tooling around wine country.

And while I was tooling around wine country in my Chevy Silverado 2500HD, what I saw were collections of third- and fourth-hand vehicles parked among the vineyards, usually near a shade tent and a set of porta-potties. Suckering and training vines for the 2103 vintage.

And the reality of all the glitzy wine auctions and the vino-bling came home to me.

WINE GLITZ COMES FROM THE SUN REFLECTING OFF SWEAT

Among those of us without entree into ANV or any other auctions, is a special class of giant on whose broad, sweaty shoulders it all sits.

These are the people who labor in the vineyards, sweat in the heat, drag hoses and scrub tanks in the cellar and do all the hard labor that makes it possible for the well-heeled to raise that weighty auction paddle.

RAISE A GLASS, GIVE A BOTTLE

Somebody needs to raise a glass to the people who will most likely never be invited to one of the exclusive vintner’s parties or see the inside of the big white auction tent.

Hell, somebody should find a way to crack open some of those uber-wines for those who labor — mostly immigrants, mostly from Mexico, some documented, some not — but assuredly the foundation on which this wealthy event rests.

If they all left wine country, every vintner and grower might as well follow.

CHARITY, GOOD — RESPECT, BETTER

Auctions like ANV are a good thing. The money they raise for a wide variety of charities help a lot of worthy causes and benefit some of the same people working in the industry.

Charity is a virtue, but the feel-good is all for the donor. Charity does not convey respect for the recipient.

No one likes to be thought of as a charity case. Especially not those who give their all in labor.

Hard work, sweat, grit and determination deserve respect. And beyond a paycheck, respect thrives on recognition.

GIVE A BOTTLE, PAY RESPECT

I wonder what might happen if every News Fetch subscriber who lives in wine country gave a very nice bottle of wine to a vineyard or cellar worker. Not plonk. But a cellar prize.

Think about it. Karma happens. Good feelings happen. Golden Rule happens. Do unto others happens.

Because I’m not all wrapped up in auction festivities, I’m going do this for Auction Napa Valley week, and for the Sonoma shindig as well. And maybe in between.

I challenge you to do the same.

My thanks to Dahlia Ceja for permission to use the photos which first appeared on her blog, The Ole Report.