August 25, 2017 — Auction of Washington Wines (AWW) celebrated its 30th anniversary in Woodinville, Wash. this month, raising $4.19 million for Seattle Children’s Hospital and Washington State University’s (WSU) Viticulture & Enology Program. AWW not only set a record, but surpassed their goal to raise $3.5 million this year.
One of Washington Tasting Room Magazine’s favorite fundraising events is the Winemaker Picnic & Barrel Auction—held this year on Thursday, August 17, 2017 on the lawn at Chateau Ste. Michelle. Attendees mixed and mingled with more than 100 winemakers, noshing on gourmet bites while sipping some of Washington’s finest wines and future-release barrel samples before finally bidding on prized wine lots. The picnic sold out for the first time ever.
Since the first auction weekend in 1988, the nonprofit has raised more than $37 million, providing an opportunity for wine and food lovers to support the Washington wine industry, families in the community receiving care at Seattle Children’s Hospital and research within WSU’s Viticulture & Enology program.
This year’s events also included winemaker dinners at private estates around Puget Sound, a charity run and walk at Columbia Winery, and the grand finale gala at Chateau Ste. Michelle winery, where vintner table hosts guided guests through the evening with specially selected wines as delicious as the auction lots. For more information visit www.auctionofwashingtonwines.org.
Below are snapshots from this event looking back several years (as published in the Summer 2017 print issue of Washington Tasting Room magazine).
All photos by John Vitale, Washington Tasting Room® Magazine
