The High Wine Auction turns 25

A quarter century of supporting the arts, one glass at a time

By Brad Kaplan Monday March 20, 2017 03:00 PM EDT

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Like Atlanta itself, the High Museum of Art was a much smaller affair a quarter century ago. The acclaimed additions designed by Renzo Piano that now make up the majority of the gallery space were still over a decade away from breaking ground, and the permanent collection was a fraction of what it is today. Back in the early ’90s, High board member Dick Denny returned home after attending a Napa Valley wine auction in California and thought a similar event was just what Atlanta needed to help support the museum’s growth. The High Museum Atlanta Wine Auction was born in 1993 and has been a signature event for the city’s arts and wine communities ever since.

This year’s auction — the 25th edition of the annual event — takes place this Sat., March 25, the culmination of another year’s worth of planning and a week packed with events including tasting seminars and collaboration dinners featuring award-winning winemakers and acclaimed chefs from near and far. If all goes well, some $2 million will be raised to support the museum’s exhibitions and educational programming, continuing the event’s role as the single largest fundraiser for the High, as well as the largest charity wine auction benefiting the arts in the entire country. Proceeds from the past 24 years of wine auctions have raised more than $26 million, thanks in part to more than 400 of the world’s top wineries who have embraced the event.

“There’s not really anything else like it around the country,” says Jasmine Hirsch of the small but highly regarded Hirsch Vineyards on a remote stretch of the Sonoma coast. “We’re asked all the time to support events in communities that are outside our own, and there are so many worthwhile things to support, but Atlanta comes down to the people – the dynamism of the community, their enthusiasm for food and wine, and the personal relationships we make.” Likewise, Sam Lando, winemaker at tiny Lando Wines just outside Santa Rosa, California, says the auction, “has allowed me to build incredible relationships with many folks who are now dear friends in Atlanta, both wine- and art-loving people as well as the awesome chef and restaurant scene… all with a heavy dose of southern hospitality.”

Those personal relationships forged over wine have created a ripple effect across Atlanta. Chef and restaurateur Linton Hopkins says the 25 years of the High auction have “absolutely improved the way Atlanta is perceived in the food and wine world. This was one of the first major events that really started bringing in chefs and vintners from around the country, helping local chefs build national relationships… I can’t tell you how many friendships we’ve made and what that has meant to the Atlanta restaurant community, from working with Gramercy Tavern’s Michael Anthony, to Justin Devillier from New Orleans, to Jeremiah Bacon from Charleston, and so many more.”

This year, one of the highlights of the wine auction also has a distinctly personal touch. It’s a massive Methuselah (6 liter bottle) of 1974 Robert Mondavi Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, signed by the Mondavi family. First sold at the original High wine auction in 1993, the bottle was donated back (after years of pristine storage) by the couple that first bought it, Barbara and Jim Lager. Like the High Wine Auction and the museum itself, there’s a good chance that the 2017 version of events will be a lot grander than the one back in 1993.

High Wine Auction. $75 - $25,000. Tues., March 22 - Sat., March 25. The High Museum of Art. 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. 404-733-5335. http://atlanta-wineauction.org.