WINE & CIRCUS AUCTION AND TASTING DEBUTS ON MARCH 15 TO RAISE FUNDS FOR CIRCUS CENTER

Event features Napa Valley vintners, stellar circus acts, and Narsai David as auctioneer

January 28, 2003 -- WINE & CIRCUS, a new wine auction and tasting event that pairs great wines with great circus acts, makes its debut on Saturday, March 15 between 4 and 7 p.m. at the Galleria in Showplace Square in San Francisco. The event, hosted by Circus Center, is a fundraiser for the San Francisco School of Circus Arts, the New Pickle Circus and the San Francisco Youth Circus.

More than 60 premium Napa Valley wines will be featured. Among the vintners pouring are Beaucanon Estate, Chappellet Winery and Vineyard, Gustavo Thrace, Grgich Hills Cellar, Paradigm Winery, Raymond Vineyard and Cellar, Renteria, Reverie on Diamond Mountain, Renteria, Robert Keenan Winery, Robert Pecota Winery, Schramsberg Vineyards, and Signorello Vineyards.

Additional winemakers ­ Colgin Cellars, Clos Pegase, Consentino Winery, Dalla Valle Vineyards, Markham Vineyards, Seavey Vineyard, Shafer Vineyards, Spring Mountain Vineyards, Trefethen Vineyards, and Viader -- are donating valuable items for the live and silent auctions. KCBS Food and Wine Editor Narsai David and veteran Pickle Circus clown Jeff Raz will auction signed magnums of prized vintages, bottles of hard-to-come-by cult wines, special gift packages, and a pair of tickets to attend the 2003 Napa Valley Wine Auction. Guests can also bid on exclusive wine country trips, like a relaxing weekend getaway at the Robert Pecota Winery in Calistoga (which includes dinner at Catahoula Restaurant and a signed, limited-edition magnum of 1998 Robert Pecota Cabernet Sauvignon). For circus-art aficionados, there are original paintings by Clio award-winning Sonoma County illustrator and artist Carol Golden. She created the artwork used to publicize this year’s New Pickle Circus performances and donated a vivid three-panel screen of circus performers in action, as well as a lively image of a traditional circus clown. A complete list of live and silent auction items will be posted on the Circus Center web site at www.circuscenter.org after February 28.

The program will also feature live performances by Circus Center artists, including the Mystic Pixies acrobats, chair balancer Joel Baker, stilt walkers, and clowns. The circus entertainment will culminate in a spectacular solo aerial-strap act performed by world-renowned Russian aerialist, Dmitri Nekrassov. A former member of the USSR National Gymnastics Team, Nekrassov has toured all over the world with the Moscow Circus. He has also appeared in Cirque du Soleil’s Mystere in Las Vegas, as well as Follies Bergere at the Tropicana, Jubilee at Bally’s, and EFX at the MGM Grand.

Tickets to WINE & CIRCUS are $75 in advance and $100 at the door. Ticket prices include a $30 tax-deductible donation to Circus Center. For tickets and information, call 415/759-8123 or visit the Circus Center web site at www.circuscenter.org. The Galleria at Showplace Square is located at 101 Henry Adams St.

The idea for WINE & CIRCUS originated with the 2002 Napa Valley Wine Auction, where Circus Center provided the featured entertainment. WINE & CIRCUS is made possible through the generosity of participating Napa Valley vintners and the sponsorship of Macy’s West.

The Circus Center, located at 755 Frederick Street in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury, is the non-profit arts organization that operates the San Francisco School of Circus Arts, the New Pickle Circus (a professional performing company), and a student-performing troupe, the San Francisco Youth Circus. Circus Center’s community outreach program includes free training programs to victims of domestic violence and free performances for people living with HIV/AIDS, the homeless, low-income seniors, and at-risk youth. According to Spectacle, an international circus journal, “Circus Center is America’s premier center for training in circus arts.”

# # #

BACK TO LIST OF PRESS RELEASES