Over 4,000 attendees turned out for Sonoma Wine Country Weekend, raising $1,570,705 to benefit local charities in the process. The 16th annual Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction, presented by the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance and hosted by Cline Cellars on Sunday, Aug. 31, was a weekend highlight. The auction itself raised $702,500 for Sonoma Valley nonprofits and boasted a psychedelic1960s theme. Jeff Bundschu, scion of 150-year-old Gundlach Bundschu winery, presided over the auction as “honorary chair,” while crowds bid on the 57 lots donated by SVVGA member vintners, growers, restaurateurs and nonprofit partners.
Local nonprofit organizations that benefited from the auction include the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation, Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley, Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, Vineyard Workers Services, Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, WillMar Center for Bereaved Children, Sonoma Jazz+, Sonoma Community Center, Friends in Sonoma Helping (FISH), Hanna Boys Center, Operation Youth, Sonoma Overnight Support and Sonoma Valley Community Health Center.
