DREAM WINE AUCTION: ‘MADE IN ITALY’ BRAND NAMES “DONATE” 56,300 EUROS TO MAGGIO MUSICALE FIORENTINO, ONE OF THE OLDEST MUSICAL INSTITUTIONS IN ITALY. RECORD BIDS FOR SASSICAIA, TRINORO, TIGNANELLO, ORNELLAIA, ALLEGRINI, FONTERUTOLI

An impressive array of the top Italian wine labels recently went on the auctioning block in a fund raising benefit for Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, one of the oldest cultural institutions in Italy.
An imperial (6 liters) of Sassicaia 2002 Tenuta San Guido was acquired for 2,100 euros, three magnums of Trinoro 2000 Tenuta di Trinoro at 1,900 euros, a mini vertical (7 bottles) of Tignanello Marchesi Antinori for 1,300 euros, and a double magnum of Ornellaia '99 Tenuta Ornellaia for 1,100 euros, were the most sensational bids of the night that, by the end of the auction, had reached a grand total of 56,300 euros.
The auction, whose earnings will go to support the “Piano Marathon” for young talents from the famous music academy in Imola “Incontri con il Maestro”, was the key event at “Alla Corte del Vino” (www.allacortedelvino.it), the international exposition at Villa Le Corti in San Casciano Val di Pesa (Florence) of the top “Made in Tuscany” wines, and created by Prince Duccio Corsini.
To the sound of bids being made on top of more bids, enthusiasts and collectors battled for the bottles that were divided into 73 lots and auctioned off within the beautiful context of the Gipsoteca dell’Istituto d’Arte in the Boboli Garden, by art critic Philippe Daverio and the Pandolfini auction house. Among the most coveted lots were the six bottles of Siepi 1997 Castello di Fonterutoli, which earned a final bid of 1,200 euros, a double magnum of San Leonardo 2000 Tenuta San Leonardo that went for 900 euros, and salmanazar (9 liters) of Amarone della Valpolicella 2000 by Allegrini with a bid of 1,200 euros. A magnum of Solaia 2001 Antinori got 800 euros, and 1,200 euros were paid for 12 bottles of Flaccianello della Pieve 2001 by Fontodi, while six bottles of Testamatta 2003 by producer Bibi Graetz reached a quota of 1,200 euros.
Super bids as well for three magnums of Trinoro 2004 Tenuta di Trinoro (1,100 euros), twelve bottles of Chianti Classico del Castello di Ama 1999 (950 euros), a magnum of Marsiliana 2001 Tenuta Marsiliana owned by Prince Corsini (1,000 euros), six bottles of “Contemporare” 2003 by Arnaldo Caprai, the first bottles in the world with a microchip installed in the cork that permits futuristic applications went for 850 euros, the double magnum Granato 2001 Foradori at 800 euros, the Bellavista Franciacorta Gran Cuvèe Sigillo Teatro alla Scala 2000, a bottle created precisely in 2000 to celebrate the reopening of the Teatro alla Scale in Milan on December 7, 2004 and accompanied by the opening night’s program (850 euros).