This Year’s Events Saw More Than 1,000 Attendees at a Live Auction Dinner and Grand Tasting
APTOS, Calif. (May 24, 2018)—The fourth annual Silicon Valley Wine Auction, hosted by Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Education Foundation (SCMWEF) on May 19 & 20, raised over $1,000,000 for education programs that serve local communities. Saturday’s dinner and Sunday’s grand tasting together attracted more than 1,000 guests to Eden Estates and Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, CA.
Photo Credit: SCMWEF
With the aim of Transforming Education with Innovation, SCMWEF is committed to supporting cutting-edge programs, initiatives, and activities that benefit children in the Santa Clara, San Mateo and Santa Cruz County communities. ALearn Silicon Valley Education Foundation (ASVEF) is 2018’s Legacy beneficiary. Other beneficiaries include the 49ers STEM Leadership Institute, the Oxford Day Academy, and the Merit Program of the Krause Center for Innovation.
The weekend-long event featured 50 local vintners from the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association pouring more than 150 ultra-premium wines. Notable live auction lots included a dinner for eight at Mount Eden Vineyards with Chef David Kinch of Los Gatos’ three-Michelin-starred restaurant Manresa, a trip to top Chateaux and First Growth wineries of Bordeaux with Ridge Vineyards and Formula One racing school at Lucas Oil Racing with professional race car driver and winery owner Thomas Fogarty.
“The Silicon Valley Wine Auction helps fund the Elevate Math program, which ensures that more socioeconomically-disadvantaged students succeed academically, cultivate college-bound mindsets and–most importantly–develop positive attitudes towards learning,” said Dave House, chair of ASVEF.
“The wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains are one of California’s best-kept secrets, and there’s no better place to experience them at once than at the Silicon Valley Wine Auction,” said Mark Vernon, president of the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Education Foundation and CEO of Ridge Vineyards. He added, “Our region is at the heart of technology and innovation. As maverick winemakers, we pair well with the innovators of Silicon Valley.”
Top donors included: John Couch and Eden Estates, Scott Cook, House Family Vineyards, DJM Capital Partners, D. John Miller Family Charitable Foundation, Alaska Airlines, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), Joe Escobar Diamonds, Krause Foundation, Kahng Foundation, Paul Humphries, Mujeeb Ijaz, Kings Mountain Vineyards, Ridge Vineyards, Mount Eden Vineyards, Rhys Vineyards, Silver Mountain Vineyards and Thomas Fogarty Winery.
About SCMWEF
The Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Education Foundation is the nonprofit body of the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association, an alliance of more than 70 wineries promoting wines produced from the Santa Cruz Mountains Viticultural Appellation, federally recognized in 1981. The Santa Cruz Mountains appellation was among the first to be defined by mountain topography, following the fog line along the coast to include the highest vineyards on the ridge tops—some as high as 2600 feet elevation. The region encompasses the Santa Cruz Mountains range and extends from Woodside in the north to Watsonville in the south; and from Monterey Bay along the coast to Silicon Valley inland. The goal of SCMWEF is to invest deeply in areas of Children’s education and health research to create a positive impact in our local communities. For more information, contact SCMWEF, phone (831) 685-8463, or visit www.svwa.org.
About the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association
The Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Association (SCMWA) is an alliance of more than 70 wineries and grape growers, most of them family-run, working to promote the unique aspects of the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA and its wines. Formed in 1981, the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA is nestled in one of the most unique winegrowing regions in the world, beginning just south of San Francisco and spanning the mountain range between the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Mountain terrain, marine influence, varied microclimates, and distinctive soils combine to produce ideal conditions for high-quality winegrowing. The small size of the wineries allows for greater attention to detail, which maximizes the potential of the grapes. For more information about SCMWA, visit scmwa.org, call 831.685.8463 or email contact@scmwa.com. Join the conversation on social media at Facebook.com/SCMWA, Twitter.com/SCMWA and Instagram.com/scmwine.
