City Winery raises $100,000 for Haiti Relief efforts

Posted: 02/23/10

(Feb 23rd, New York, NY) - Last night saw the Haiti fundraising efforts at City Winery reach the stated goal of $100,000. A well attended wine auction featuring a wide variety of donated vintage, large format and specialty wines, generated nearly $30,000 in proceeds.

Both live and silent auctions were conducted with bidders enthusiastically bidding each other higher and higher in a communal effort to lift the price of the wines. In the spirit of giving, many successful bidders immediately opened their wines and shared with their fellow wine lovers. Empty bottles of 1970 Petrus sat alongside 2003 Chateau-neuf du Pape as the evening proceeded. The highest bid of the night was $5,400 for a barrel membership to City Winery, to make a barrel of wine, while the 1945 Grand Vin De Leoville Las Cases fell for an impressive $1,400 for the single bottle

The ever entertaining Jamie Ritchie of Sotheby's wittily extolled the crowd to double their efforts and the results spoke for themselves.

The evening was rounded out by a soulful and stirring performance by the Haitian rara band Djarara who directly benefited from the door sales of the evening.

The $100,000 raised for relief efforts in Haiti from the four nights of concerts and the wine auction are being dispersed to our recipients listed below and while the money will go to fund important initiatives they continue to need ongoing.

A Personal Note from CEO and City Winery Michael Dorf

Thank-you to all who helped us reach our goal of $100,000 for the Haiti Relief Effort. The generous outpouring of support was truly awe inspiring. With Monday evening's Wine Auction, we reached our target--so thank you very much. While the world attention slowly moves on, please remember that Haiti needs on-going support. The three organizations we donated to can all be contacted directly for additional support. We all need to do more. Whether its sending aid or raising awareness, everything that you contribute will help.

Many Thanks

Michael Dorf