Gladiators spar in live auctions

Drama sells.

At least that's how wine auctioneer Fritz Hatton sees it. For years Hatton – as an esteemed auctioneer – has witnessed the theatrics of wine auctions from the best seat in the house.

"In the end," Hatton says, "what gives the room a charge are the final two gladiators battling it out to the death for a lot."

At the recent Hospices of Sonoma Auction, there didn't seem to be a gladiator in the house. While final totals are still not available, preliminary figures reveal the May 3 auction raised about $224,000 or about half of last year's take of $450,000. So what happened? Why the shortage of gladiators?

Organizers say it was most likely a combination of the sluggish economy coupled with the event's new format -- the Silent Auction Big Board. Huge boards at the front of the room tracked bids, with higher ones ultimately shuffling lower ones off the board.

"We were very disappointed because we really thought we'd have more spirited bidders," said Jane Young, executive director of the WCC, the World Croquet Championship, which put on the auction.

There was a short live auction segment featuring four lots, but the new format dominated and it was challenging for even a lively and witty master of ceremonies like John Holdredge to focus the crowd's attention on the big board.

"I think the biggest issue was that people weren't focused on the auction," Young said. "They were focused on the tasting."

This was especially true for people like Ginny Embry of Sebastopol, who came to the auction to sip rather than bid. "The pinots from here (Sonoma County) are the best in the world," said Embry, who was busy tasting the barrel samples of the 2007 vintage from the 35 producers pouring.

The pinot enthusiasts like Embry weren't put off by the auction's new location, the Kaiser Air hanger at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport. Last year's auction was held at Santa Rosa Junior College's Shone Farm in Forestville. "They did a great job with the setting, but even if they hadn't, once you get into the spirit of drinking pinot, all things become beautiful," Embry joked.

Young said no one complained about sipping pinot in an airport hanger, and it's not surprising. Organizers get kudos for creating a compelling milieu -- Wine County's take on the Moulin Rouge, the Parisian cabaret built in 1889. There was a woman swinging from a trapeze, dancers, an accordion player, ice sculptures of the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, as well as French-inspired appetizers such as Andante Minuet tartlets and Gougere pastries.

While the backdrop successfully set the stage for the auction, the bidding was less than exciting.

As Fritz says, in a silent auction you don't have someone standing next to a lot, trying to sell it. "It's the roar of the grease paint and the pull of the crowd that makes a difference."

Florida's Naples Winter Wine Festival, which raised $14 million last year, focuses its efforts entirely on its live auction. Its first auction was in 2001 and it has never featured a silent auction, according to executive director Dawn Montecalvo.

"Silent auctions sometimes get fair market value," she said. "We want to focus on the live auction and keep the quality up of those auction lots. … There's a lot of drama under the white tent, especially when there's bidding on the million dollar lots. People are cheering, rattles are going off, people are yelling."

Fritz said his most dramatic auction lot was an 1847 bottle of d'Yquem. While serving as auctioneer in Los Angeles for Zachys, a leading U.S. wine retailer, he witnessed two indomitable gladiators who "battled it out for the wine at $1,000 increments, from $20,000 to $62,000. That really charged up the room."

Peg Melnik is at 521-5310 and peg.meknik@pressdemocrat.

com.