What is Premiere Napa Valley?
Inspired in part by the Hospices de Beaune, Premiere Napa Valley (PNV) is a wine auction that takes place every February in Napa. The week around the auction is filled with tastings and events relating to PNV. The auction is only open to members of the wine trade, most often merchants or restaurants who will then sell the wine exclusively to their clients. Today, Sotheby’s runs the actual auction. It first took place in 1997.
Which wines are auctioned off at Premiere Napa Valley?
The lots are all made specifically for the auction, one-of-a-kind wines that otherwise wouldn’t exist. Only members of the Napa Valley Vintners can make wines for the auction, and sometimes producers will collaborate on a lot. The lots normally comprise 240, 120 or 60 bottles, coming from AVAs across the region. These limited bottlings are often of a variety or vineyard not normally bottled separately, or a special blend or collaboration. The wines all come from the same vintage – harvest just under a year and a half prior to the auction (so the 2023 vintage is being offered in 2025), and tastings of these lots offer the first comprehensive view of a vintage to the trade.
Who organises Premiere Napa Valley and where does the money raised go?
The event is organised by Napa Valley Vintners. Napa Valley Vintners is an association of producers established in 1943 and formalised in 1944, a forum to exchange ideas and work as a group to overcome challenges as well as elevate the reputation of the valley’s wines. Napa Valley Vintners also organises Auction Napa Valley (previously knowns as the Napa Valley wine Auction) which was created in 1981 and takes place every summer.
Alongside its efforts to champion the region and its wines, investing in the local community is a huge focus: since 1981, the group has raised over $230 million for local non-profits – supporting healthcare and education, as well as environmental work. Today, 539 wineries are members of the organisation. The 29th iteration of Premiere Napa Valley, held in 2025, raised $3.3 million, a new record for sales. You can find out more about Napa Valley Vintners’ philanthropic work, which operates under Collective Napa Valley, and their current initiatives on their website.
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Photography: Alexander Rubin, courtesy of Premiere Napa Valley
