Page 16 - Toast to Your Health Wine Auction | University of Rochester Medical Center

wine auctions nationwide, in addition to overseeing the
VINTNER & WINE AUCTIONEER
Fritz Hatton
Fritz Hatton and his immediate family own Arietta, one of
Napa’s top producers of Bordeaux-style blended wines.
He is also the nation’s most experienced wine auctioneer,
having begun his career in Christie’s Wine Department in
1980. After a 12-year management career with Christie’s
in North America and the Far East, Fritz took a musical
sabbatical on the West Coast in the early 1990s. He
conducted his first auction for the Napa Valley Vintners
in 1992, and in 1995, returned to Christie’s as director of
Christie’s U.S. Wine Department.
Out of Fritz’s musical and wine country experiences with
his winemaker friend, John Kongsgaard, emerged a wine
brand with a musically inspired name: Arietta. In 1998,
Fritz returned to California to launch Arietta with his wife
Caren Hatton.
He remained with Christie’s as consultant and principal
wine auctioneer before joining Zachys Wine Auctions
in 2002. Fritz continues to conduct all commercial
wine auctions for Zachys, as well as numerous charity
16 TOAST TO YOUR HEALTH
production and sales of Arietta.
Fritz and Caren reside in Napa, California, with their two
daughters, Libby and Hattie. A native of Michigan, Fritz
is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and a summa
cum laude graduate of Yale University with a bachelor’s
degree in English literature. He is one of the first
students to enroll in the Yale School of Organization and
Management, from which he received an MBA in 1979.
After family and wine, Fritz’s major interest is classical
music, and he is just as happy playing the piano as he is
encouraging bidders to turn cash into collectible wine.
Wine milestones:
1981: Helped organize Christie’s first wine auction in
the U.S.
1982: Auctioned his largest lot: $420,000 for 50 cases
of Mouton Rothschild.
1983: Conducted first wine charity auction, for the
Peninsula Center for the Blind in Woodside, CA. Served
as auctioneer for more than a hundred other charitable
organization auctions thereafter.
1992: Conducted first auction exceeding $1 million in
proceeds.
1992-present: Auctioneer for Auction Napa Valley.
1995-1998: Served as director for Christie’s Wine
Department and organized their largest wine auctions
conducted to date.
1996: Fritz and Caren co-founded the Napa winery,
Arietta, becoming sole owners in 2005. With Andy
Erickson serving as winemaker, Arietta has grown to
3,500 cases and eight wines.
2000: Auctioned the most expensive bottle ever sold: 6L
1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon for $500,000.
2014: Generated the highest total for any charity wine
auction, $18.7 million.
FINE WINE AUCTION 17