January, 2015 – White Truffle Dinner

(Palm Beach, Fla.) – Guests of Wednesday’s White Truffle Dinner honoring the Palm Beach Wine Auction sponsors sipped Krug champagne as host, Tiffany & Co. Palm Beach showcased a stunning collection of jewels prior to dinner upstairs featuring exceptional wines from Spring Mountain, Edge Hill and Oremus.

Fresh pink peonies and Tiffany’s signature teal and silver holiday decorations graced the main salon as ladies tried on glittering baubles while guests nibbled caviar on petite cracker spoons and Thai shrimp-stuffed “cigars” enhanced with ginger lemongrass sauce.

Auction Chair Ted Mandes welcomed guests to the intimate, candle-lit meal upstairs by saying, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s may be a movie, but dinner at Tiffany’s is much better,” before thanking Tiffany host Jeff Sabean, the Auction’s co-chairs, sponsors and supporters and welcoming host vintner Kenneth “Scotty” Barbour, director of international and domestic sales for Spring Mountain Vineyard.

Barbour announced that one of this year’s lots at the Auction on January 29^th will include a complete Magnum vertical collection, 2000-2012, of its signature Cabernet-based wine, Elivette, as well as 2003-2005 Elivette, 3L, which  Mandes was able to secure from Spring Mountain owner, Jacob E. Safra.

“I don’t know how he did it – no one else in the world will ever have access to this,” said Barbour with a chuckle and nod to Mandes. “It’s never been done before.”

Barbour also shared that one lucky Auction bidder will win a private tour of Spring Mountain including a four-wheel-drive trip up the winery’s steep terraced vineyards to experience breathtaking views of the valley.

Guests of the White Truffle Dinner enjoyed an exquisite meal of truffle-infused delights. The first course included a demitasse of cauliflower soup infused with white truffle shavings and poached lobster medallions over butternut squash and corn salad with white truffle vinaigrette, paired with the incomparable 2010 Edge Hill Winery Bacigalupi Chardonnay. The entrée featured truffled brisket of veal served over a truffled celeriac puree finished with shaved white truffles. The veal was paired with side-by-side glasses of 2004 and 2007 Spring Mountain Elivette for a comparison of distinct, rich flavors. Dessert was a duet of apples: apple confit with fromage blanc parfait, cider gelée, and a gala apple and golden raisin tart, served with a sublime Oremus Tokaji, Late Harvest 2010.

Following the dinner, each guest took home a woven crystal vase, courtesy of Tiffany & Co.

The Palm Beach Wine Auction celebrates its 8^th year on January 29, 2015, at the incomparable Mar-a-Lago Club, Palm Beach. More than 200 guests will gather with goblet shaped paddles to bid on amazingly rare vintages while sampling the finest cuisine by a team of world-class chefs.

Since its inception, the auction has raised more than $2 million for the education programs at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach. Such programs include the S*T*A*R (Students and Teachers Arts Resource) Series, which brings thousands of students to the Kravis Center each year for diverse performances in theater, dance and music.

“To reach out and help with opening a child’s mind to the performing arts is not just a cause, but an ongoing obligation,” said Mandes. “That is the mission of the Palm Beach Wine Auction. This exclusive event provides us the opportunity to involve a worldwide audience who values performing arts and create awareness of the Kravis Center’s education programs that are so vital to our youth today.”

The auction’s mission attracts some of the food and wine industries’ most treasured and iconic names, whose donations to the cause offer gastronomic experiences that simply cannot be bought.

The 2015 event will feature more than 40 lots of remarkable wines and spirits from around the globe, exceptional luxury travel experiences and unique treasures all under the direction of Michael Troise, retired Auction Director for NY Wines/Christie’s Fine and Rare Wine Department.

The evening’s five-course dinner will include sublime fare from a who’s who of award-winning chefs, including Zach Bell, Addison Reserve Country Club, Delray Beach; Bogdan Boerean and Graham Randall, The Mar-a-Lago Club, Palm Beach; Philip Bollhoefer, OMNI Asheville/Grove Park Inn; Joshua Hasho, OMNI Denver/Interlocken Resort & Spa; Douglas Katz, Fire Food and Drink, The Katz Club Diner and Provenance at Cleveland Museum of Art; Trevor Kunk, PRESS, Napa Valley; Joe Mercuri and Athiraj Phrasavath, Mercuri, Montreal and Cameron Pishnery, Fire Food and Drink and The Katz Club Diner.

Vintner participants for the dinner include The House of Krug, Rudd Oakville Estate, Adobe Road Winery, Antinori Family Wine Estate and Warre’s.

“If the food and wine pairings at the 2014 Palm Beach Wine Auction which we attended are any indication of the 2015 event, it will be the ‘must attend event’ for any food and wine lover,” said Yvon Ros, Director of Sponsorship and Special Events for The James Beard Foundation in New York. “Ted Mandes’ exquisite palate and attention to detail make for a fabulous and delicious party with a purpose.”

Spearheading the 2015 Palm Beach Wine Auction with Chair, Ted Mandes are Co-chairs, Madeline and Roderic Fink and Carolyn and Richard Sloane. Also serving on the auction committee are Ed Dudnyk, Barbara Golden, Steven M. Gottlieb, John H. Kessler, Stacey Levy, Shelley Menin, Patrick M. Park, I. Jeffrey Pheterson, Martin Rivard, Jeffrey Sabean, Lewis M. Schott, Laurie S. Silvers, Daniel J. “Rusty” Staub, Michael Troise and Jill Wachter.

Event sponsors are Park Foundation, Laurie Silvers and Mitchell Rubenstein, Madeline and Roderic Fink, First Republic Bank, Barbara and Jerome Golden, Steven M. Gottlieb and Laurie Raber-Gottlieb, Jaguar Palm Beach, Land Rover Palm Beach, Aston Martin Palm Beach, Stacey and Mark Levy, Craig and Rochelle Menin, Menin Development, Inc., Jane M. Mitchell, Lewis M. Schott, Carolyn and Richard Sloane, Table 26 Palm Beach, and Tiffany & Co. in honor of Madeline and Roderic Fink and Carolyn and Richard Sloane. Gulfstream Media Group, publishers of Jupiter Magazine, The Palm Beacher, Stuart Magazine, Gold Coast and Boca Life, is the media sponsor.

Leading up to the auction is the Aston Martin Racing event to be held at Jaguar Palm Beach, Land Rover Palm Beach, Aston Martin Palm Beach on Tuesday, January 27, 2015, with Kevin Buckler, owner Adobe Road Winery and TRG Motorsports. The Sponsors Vintners’ Dinner, sponsored by First Republic Bank, will be held at Trevini Ristorante, Palm Beach, on Wednesday, January 28, 2015. These events are by invitation only.