The 2012 Central Coast Wine Classic Rare & Fine Wine & Lifestyle Auction, which took place on Saturday, July 14, in Avila Beach, California, Announces Auction Results, including $100,000 Donated to the Children’s Resource Network of the Central Coast through the Annual Fund-A-Need Auction Lot!

The 2012 Central Coast Wine Classic, held from Thursday, July 12 through Sunday, July 15, featured one of Wine Spectator’s “Top Ten” Charity Auctions in America. Termed the Rare & Fine Wine & Lifestyle Auction, it included offerings of rare wines and lifestyle packages from the Central Coast of California and other wine and culinary destinations in California, as well as around the United States and throughout the world. It also included remarkable art works from exceptional California artists.

This year’s Live Auction raised $800,900. With proceeds from the Silent Auction at $25,515, the wine and lifestyle offerings raised $826,415. The Live Auction total includes the Annual Fund-A-Need Auction Lot, which inured to the benefit of the Children’s Resource Network of the Central Coast, located in Pismo Beach, and which raised an astounding $100,000 in just under 15 minutes!

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For 2012, the Wine Classic Foundation Board has chosen the following beneficiaries: Access for All, San Luis Obispo; Amazing Surf Adventures, San Luis Obispo; Atascadero High School Band & Pageantry Boosters, Atascadero; Conflict Solutions Center Community Mediation, Santa Maria; Jodi House, Santa Barbara; One Cool Earth, San Luis Obispo; Paso Robles Youth Arts Foundation, Paso Robles; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara Symphony, Santa Barbara; SLO Grown Kids, Los Osos and Storyteller Children's Center, Santa Barbara. The Annual Fund-A-Need Auction Lot Proceeds will inure to the benefit of the Children's Resource Network of the Central Coast in Pismo Beach.

The 2011 Central Coast Wine Classic Rare & Fine Wine & Lifestyle Live Auction raised $738,825. Including proceeds from the Silent Auction at $31,145, the wine and lifestyle offerings raised $769,970. The Annual Fund-A-Need Auction Lot, which inured to the benefit of the Center for Nanomedicine at the University of California at Santa Barbara raised $114,500, the most successful Fund-A-Need result in the Wine Classic's history. Auction proceeds for 2011 totaled $884,470. The total proceeds granted by the Central Coast Wine Classic Foundation over the past eight years is $1,883,386 to 91 San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County non-profits.

For 2011, the Wine Classic Foundation Board gifted grants to the following beneficiaries: Avila Beach Civic Association, The Center for Nanomedicine in Santa Barbara, Coast Caregiver Resource Center in Santa Barbara, Friends of Hapitok in San Luis Obispo, Friends of the Atascadero Martin Polin Library, Friends of the Visual Arts & Design Academy in Santa Barbara, The Link Teens at Work Program in Atascadero & San Miguel, Loaves & Fishes in Paso Robles, North County Rape Crisis & Child Protection Center in Lompoc & Santa Maria, Northern Chumash Cultural Preservation Kinship in San Luis Obispo, Poetic Justice Project in Santa Maria, Santa Barbara Master Chorale, Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, The Sexual Assault Recovery & Protection Program of SLO County in San Luis Obispo, United Cerebral Palsy in San Luis Obispo and Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care in Santa Barbara.

Thanks to the generous support of our donors and auction patrons, under the auspices of the Central Coast Wine Classic Foundation, formed in 2004, the Wine Classic was able to provide substantive grants in 2004 to the San Luis Obispo Aids Support Network; San Luis Obispo Special Olympics; the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo & Santa Barbara Public Radio KCBX, with the annual Fund-A-Need Auction Lot benefitting the Rhythmic Arts Project, centered in Ventura. Grants conferred in the first year of the new Foundation totaled $126,500.

In 2005, grants were conferred upon Hospice of San Luis Obispo County; the Santa Barbara County Bowl Foundation; Partnership for the Children of San Luis Obispo County; the Clark Center Association in Arroyo Grande; the San Luis Obispo County Arts Council; the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival and Surgical Eye Expeditions in Santa Barbara, with the Fund-A-Need Auction Lot inuring to benefit of the Fund for Vineyard & Farm Workers, founded by Brian and Johnine Talley of Talley Vineyards in Arroyo Grande. Grants conferred during the Foundation's second year of granting totaled $195,000.

For 2006, the Central Coast Wine Classic Foundation's Board of Directors funded grants for the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival; the San Luis Obispo Art Center; the Foundation for the Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo; Big Brothers & Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County; Tree of Life Pregnancy Support Center of San Luis Obispo County; Hospice Partners of the Central Coast; Pacific Repertory Opera; the John E. Profant Foundation for the Arts in Santa Barbara; Community Counseling Center of San Luis Obispo and Caring Callers of San Luis Obispo County. The Wellness Community of the Central Coast's facility in Paso Robles, founded by Justin & Deborah Baldwin of Justin Vineyards & Winery in Paso Robles, was the recipient of the Fund-A-Need Auction Lot. Foundation grants for 2006 totaled $203,000.

Beneficiaries of grants from the 2007 Wine Classic included the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Central Coast Center for Arts Education, the Central Coast Commission for Senior Citizens, Children's Health Initiative, Civic Ballet of San Luis Obispo, Enhancement Health & Wellness, Opera Santa Barbara, San Luis Chamber Orchestra, San Luis Obispo Vocal Arts/International Choral Festival, University of California at Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures, San Luis Obispo Children's Museum, San Luis Obispo Symphony Orchestra and Transitional Food & Shelter. The Wine Classic Fund-A-Need Auction Lot was designated for Options Family of Services. The lot raised $86,250, which will be used by Options for creating an arts program for persons with developmental disabilities and persons who have suffered traumatic brain injuries. "This result is a testament to the altruism of our patrons," states Wine Classic Founder & Chairman, Archie McLaren. "The overwhelming majority of these funds was contributed by patrons from outside the Central Coast area, many from other states. It shows quite clearly the quality of individual that the Wine Classic is bringing to the Central Coast."

For 2008, the Central Coast Wine Classic Foundation Board of Directors gifted the following beneficiaries grants totalling just over $225,000, including $82,500 to the French Hospital Hearst Cancer Resource Center from the Annual Fund-A-Need Auction Lot: Assistance League of San Luis Obispo County, Atascadero Loaves & Fishes, Cal Poly Arts, El Camino Homeless Organization, PCPA Theaterfest, Project Angels Bearing Gifts, San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra, San Luis Obispo YMCA, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts, & Tierra Sagrada, The Sacred Earth Foundation.

For 2009, the Board gifted grants totaling $205,025 to the following beneficiaries: Community Youth Performing Arts Center of Santa Barbara; Foodbank of Santa Barbara County; Foundation for the Performing Arts Center of San Luis Obispo; Friends of Prado Day Center in San Luis Obispo; Friendship Adult Day Care Center of Santa Barbara; Gatehelp, Inc./Gryphon Society in Atascadero; Public Radio KCBX San Luis Obispo & Santa Barbara Counties; Los Padres Forest Watch of Santa Barbara; Morro Bay High School Band; Paderewski Festival of Paso Robles; Santa Maria Philharmonic Society; Senior Volunteer Services of San Luis Obispo and Transitions Mental Health Association of San Luis Obispo. The total includes $67,500 from the Annual Fund-A-Need Auction Lot to fund Respite Care for the Central Coast Alzheimer's Association.

For 2010, the Board conferred grants to the following beneficiaries: Adelaida Historical Foundation, Paso Robles; Ballet Theatre San Luis Obispo; Cognitive Fitness & Innovative Therapies, Santa Barbara; Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County Adult Day Services Program, San Luis Obispo; Court Appointed Special Advocates of San Luis Obispo County, San Luis Obispo; Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County, Paso Robles; God's Haven for Children, San Luis Obispo; Maxine Lewis Memorial Shelter, San Luis Obispo; North County Dance & Performing Arts Foundation, Paso Robles; Pacific Wildlife Care, Morro Bay; San Luis Obispo County Historical Society, San Luis Obispo; Studios on the Park, Paso Robles; United Cerebral Palsy Work, Inc, Santa Barbara. The Annual Fund-A-Need Auction Lot inured to the benefit of the Senior Nutrition Program of San Luis Obispo County, San Luis Obispo.

The Central Coast Wine Classic Foundation Board consists of Stephanie Harkness of Santa Cruz, James Hathaway of San Luis Obispo, Fred Griffith of San Luis Obispo, Carissa Chappellet of Big Sur and Napa, and Archie McLaren of Avila Beach and Napa. The Board confers grant funds in October following each Wine Classic.

Please see the Foundation Page for grant criteria.

For more information, contact Archie McLaren at (805) 544-1285 or archie@slonet.org.