Living the American Dream

Saturday’s inaugural AfrAsia Cape Wine Auction was a realization of the American Dream. Charles Banks’s lot, consisting of a week in Napa for two couples, business class, accounted for 10% of the whole auction. Confirming just how generous Americans are. In his Screaming Eagle days, Chas (below) would routinely give away $3 million to good causes each year or more than four times the total raised by the AfrAsia affair.

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Heck, one night camping in a tent at Screaming Eagle for six people went for $500,000 or getting on for the whole of AfrAsia. OK, so Thomas Keller from the French Laundry was doing the barbecue and some Grammy Award winners from Nashville provided a soundtrack but nevertheless…

The Naples (Florida) Winter Wine Festival grossed $16 million last year and has raised over $100 million in ten years. So while the performance on Delaire was admirable, awesome and amazing, we’re still some way from US generosity levels. Almost one quarter of the total take was raised by the three patrons who hosted the media to lunch on Friday at De  Morgenzon: Wendy Appelbaum, May de Lencquesaing and Chas. Ten years ago, none of the charitable trio was involved in SA wine. Leaving lots of room for marketing to some of the well established figures in SA wine.