Vintage Affaire returns to Atherton Vintage Affaire returns to Atherton (June 30, 2004)

By Jane Knoerle
Almanac Lifestyles Editor

On Sunday, July 11, Vintage Affaire, the grande dame of garden party/wine auctions, returns to the gardens of Jane and Bill Walsh in Atherton. This will be the fourth time the Walshes have opened their estate to the benefit for the Peninsula Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Their daughter, Suzi Tinsley of Menlo Park, is past president of Vintage Affaire, and adviser to this year's president, Laura Rich, also of Menlo Park.

The first Vintage Affaire in 1982, held at the Fleishhaker estate in Woodside, drew 100 guests and raised $65,000. The year 2000, before the dot-com bubble burst, saw the fundraiser net $780,000 with 600 guests attending. Despite the downturn in the economy, last year's Vintage Affaire raised $425,000 for the Peninsula Center for the Blind.

Vintage Affaire begins at 2:30 p.m. in the Walsh gardens with a silent auction, wine tasting and music played by the Magnolia Jazz Band. Something new has been added this year: five award-winning chefs will create hors d'oeuvres to be served with a special wine varietal during the tasting. Guests will not only meet the chefs but receive a collection of their recipes as a keepsake.

Charles Nob Hill of San Francisco will serve ricotta gnocchi with tomato and corn ragout. Marche's Howard Bulka will be dishing up seared ahi tuna with haricots verts (green beans) and Yukon gold potatoes. Lavanda's chef Clyde Griesbach will prepare lobster and avocado salad, while grilled lamb loin with white beans and spiced fig jam is on the menu from Bradley Ogden's Parcel 104 in Santa Clara. Mark Sullivan of the Village Pub will present heirloom tomato gazpacho. And that's just the hors d'oeuvres.

The live auction begins at 4:30 p.m. with auctioneers Fritz Hatton and Ursula Hermacinski. Mr. Hatton, the leader auctioneer and former head of Christine's North American wine department, is now a partner in Arietta Winery. Ms. Hermacinski has received the Golden Grade award from Food & Wine magazine, which called her "goddess of the gavel for perfecting the art of auctioneering." Master sommelier Bath will be the commentator.

The Vintage Affaire invitation lists such auction highlights as California chardonnay from Kistler, Kongsgaard and Chalk Hill; Dalla Valle magnums from 2000; a magnum of Jones Family Vineyard 2000 cabernet sauvignon; and several lots of 1990s' California cabernet sauvignon from Diamond Creek, Shafer, Ridge, Silver Oak and Joseph Phelps wineries.

Tour-tasting events from Provenance Vineyards, Schug, Miner Family, Tandem, Keegan Cellars, J Vineyards and Clark-Claudon will also be up for auction.

As they have done since the mid-1990s, McCall Associates of San Francisco will keep guests well fed during the afternoon and evening event. Throughout the auction they will be serving individual lamb chops, platters of cheese garnished with fruit, bowls of olives, almonds, cherry tomatoes and cornichons and baskets of breads.

The sunset sit-down supper, to be served after the auction, will include smoked tenderloin of beef with potato aioli salad, chocolate pot au creme, and platters of miniature lemon tarts.

Laura Rich of Menlo Park is president of the Peninsula Center for the Blind Foundation board. Her officers include: Dianne Brinson, Nancye Beck, Lisa Petersen, Bobbi Blase, Leslie Lodestro, Jackie Macdonald, Janet Bennett, Alex Roach, Marilyn Pratt, Martha Barry, LB Fishback, and Kelly Mahoney.

Tickets to Vintage Affaire are $200 per person. Parking for the event will be at Sacred Heart School, 150 Valparaiso Ave., Atherton. Shuttles will begin transportation at 2 p.m. For more information, call Peninsula Center for the Blind, 858-0202 or visit the Vintage Affaire Web site at www.vintageaffaire.org.

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