Napa Corked Minus Leno And Expectations

The Napa Valley wine auction, an annual barometer of bling, scaled down this year with no celebrities, lowered expectations and a final tally of about $5.7 million, a little over half the take last year. 

But that was just fine with organizers.

"Everyone is thrilled," said Terry Hall, spokesman for the Napa Valley Vintners which puts on the annual event. "In this economy, we are happy to be able to continue to support the non-profits in Napa County."

Historically, recessions have slowed giving, although not precipitously, said Patrick Rooney, executive director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. A study looking at several decades of philanthropy showed that in years where there was any amount of recession, giving fell by 1 percent, adjusted for inflation, and in years where there were eight or more months of recession, giving fell by nearly 3 percent, he said.

But wine auctions may face a stiffer challenge.

"Philanthropy is clearly a discretionary good and wine is discretionary," he said.

The Naples Winter Wine Festival in Florida, which features a lot of Napa Valley wines, brought in a little over $5 million this year, a sharp drop from the $14 million raised in 2008.

In the Napa Valley, organizers tried to streamline their approach. "We spent less money on graphics and the catalog was a little less lush, the invitation was a little less lush," Hall told the Mercury News. "We reached out to all of our partners in terms of people who supply things and asked them to reduce their costs."

Last year featured Jay Leno as headliner; Oprah was among attendees. This year, the unofficial master of ceremonies was Kevin Zraly, creator of the Windows on the World wine course.