#1  The wines - The ¡Salud! Cuvée Pinot Noir

On day one of this two-day wine and food spectacular, 40 select wineries offer very special blends of Pinot Noir found nowhere else for your tasting and bidding enjoyment. For wine fans and newbies alike, there’s a thrill to tasting and winning wines that are considered to be the best of the best, and extremely rare. Each winery produces only five 12-bottle cases of ¡Salud! Cuvée each year, blends of their very best barrels, and once it’s sold at the Big Board Auction at Ponzi Vineyards, it’s gone!

#2  – The cause – Healthcare for Vineyard Workers & Their Families
Behind every bottle of wine, there are vineyard workers who tend the vines by hand, expertly caring for the land throughout the year. While some workers have health insurance coverage through their employers, many, who move from crop to crop, aren’t eligible for coverage. ¡Salud! The Oregon Pinot Noir Auction funds ¡Salud! Services, a project of OHSU Tuality Healthcare to make accessible, affordable healthcare possible for vineyard workers and their family members. Bringing bilingual, bicultural care directly to the vineyards for more than 25 years, ¡Salud! ensures vineyard workers and their families are able to get the care they need, before minor issues become major. ¡Salud! Services partners with healthcare providers throughout the region and works like a connector to get workers the resources they need in their communities, negotiating with providers on worker’s behalf to keep healthcare costs affordable.

#3 – The winemakers – 40 Winemaking Legends
Trading muck boots for dress shoes, ball caps for ball gowns, 40 of Oregon’s most legendary winemakers come together just after harvesting the next vintage of grapes to celebrate and support their workers at ¡Salud!. Taste wines poured by the winemakers themselves, hear the stories behind each unique blend, and join for a fun and fancy weekend of incredible food, wine and community.  

#4 – The setting – Ponzi Vineyards & Domaine Serene’s Clubhouse
It doesn’t get more beautiful than ¡Salud!’s two wine-country venues. Friday, Ponzi Vineyards’ crush pad (where the winemaking magic happens) is transformed overnight into chicness for the Big Board Auction & Pinot Party. Guests are greeted with sparkling wines, music, a silent auction and gourmet food before the tasting and bidding begins in Ponzi’s gorgeous tasting room and private event space. On Saturday, Domaine Serene’s Clubhouse, set majestically on top of the hill, is home to the Grand Dinner & Live Auction. This elegant, black-tie optional evening is complete with wine tasting in château-replica caves, a silent auction, and a multi-course meal with wines expertly poured by Willamette Valley’s best sommeliers. When dinner begins, so does the live auction, with fast and furious bids for international trips, curated wine collections and food and wine experiences offered nowhere else. 

Tickets are limited and sought-after! Tickets were quickly snatched up in 2018, and only a limited number will be released to the public for the November 8 & 9 auction weekend this year. Full-weekend tickets will be available for $550, or $300 each for the Big Board Auction & Pinot Party, and $325 for the Grand Dinner & Live –Auction. Follow ¡Salud! on Instagram at @saludauction or subscribe to the ticket on-sale list at www.saludauction.org to be notified when tickets are released.