Cotes du Coeur: Donors Generously Pile on the Auction Packages

Donors are contributing some mind-blowing auction packages to the American Heart Association for their annual wine gala and auction, Cotes du Coeur.  Looking through the list of packages that have come in so far, it seems as though one rich experience is piled on top of another until it’s practically a sensory skyscaper.

Take, for example, the Gargiulo Vineyards Wine and Music package. The description reads like a wine and music-lover’s fantasy:

Gargiulo Vineyards is located in Eastern Oakville, and it’s known as a Napa Valley “first growth” wine estate. Their flagship wine is G Major 7 Cabernet Sauvignon, a classic Bordeaux blend named after a jazz guitar chord composed of four notes. Like the G Major 7 chord, the cabernet has four notes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot and Merlot.

The lucky bidder who gets the Gargiulo package receives a magnum of each of their best wines. In addition, the buyer gets a Baby Taylor Travel Guitar with case, etched and signed by Jeff Gargiulo; a signed copy of “Drink it Up” written in the G Major 7 chord by Anna Wilson, Monty Powell, and Jeff Gargiulo; and 2 tickets to the 2010 Oakville Sessions, a day-long wine and music jam featuring grammy award-winning artists, songwriters and composers.

Not a bad gig, if you can get it.

Here is another hot ticket: could you handle spending three nights at the “hideaway” cottage on the Benovia 58-acre estate in the Sonoma Russian River Valley? The description says you can “stroll among the vineyards surrounding the cottage. Soak your cares away in the hot tub while sipping delicious pinot noir from Benovia Winery.”

They had me at the cottage.

Yet there’s still more— the buyer of the Benovia package also receives two cases of pinot noir and one case of chardonnay and dines with winemaker Mike Sullivan at the award-winning Cyrus restaurant in Healdsburg. The San Francisco gives Cyrus four stars and calls Douglas Keane “the next superstar chef.” How’s that for a wine and food pairing?

To date, there are 104 fabulous packages—and more are coming in. If you want to get in on the action, you will have to attend the Cotes du Coeur auction and gala. Bring your checkbook and a willingness to go a little crazy.

Cotes du Coeur benefits the American Heart Association, and the Gala event will be held at the Hilton Anatole on April 10. For more Cotes du Coeur information, visit www.dallaswineauction.com.

Rebecca Marmaduke is Cotes du Coeur Editor for EscapeHatchDallas