For
the last 17 years, the World Croquet Championship (founded by Brice Cutrer
Jones) was held at Sonoma–Cutrer Vineyards in Sonoma County, California.
The event became one of the top charity auctions in the United States,
raising over a million dollars in 2000. Over the years, the charities
benefiting from the event have included: The National Down Syndrome Society,
Starcross Community, Polly Klass Foundation, the New York Police and Fire
Widows and Children's Benefit Fund. In recent years monies were set aside
for the WCC House. In 2001, WCC announced a partnership with Sutter Medical
Center of Santa Rosa, a community based not for profit hospital, to build
the WCC House in Santa Rosa. The WCC House will provide a nurturing home
for families with hospitalized children in a neo-natal or pedriatric care
unit at any of Sonoma County's hospitals. In 2001, Brice and the winery he founded parted ways. The Championship ended in 2002. In 2003, Brice founded the Hospices of Sonoma Barrel Auction to replace the Croquet Championship . The new event serves as a venue to raise money for the WCC House and as a tribute to the Pinot Noir producers within the Sonoma Coast viticultural appellation. The new event was based on the famed Hospices de Beaune barrel auction, one of the world's premiere auctions. At this first Hospices of Sonoma auction, twenty-four producers from the Sonoma Coast ( including Russian River Valley and Green Valley ) participated. Each producer contributed a half-barrel of 2003 Pinot Noir, which was auctioned off to a crowd of over 300 bidders. The inaugural event raised $200,000.
The
three day event began on Friday night with a family-style dinner with
winemakers rotating tables to share both current and library wines from
their cellars. Saturday's barrel tasting and auction featured small lots
of cult Pinots, which allowed guests to taste wine that was available only
at the Hospices of Sonoma Barrel Auction.
