2012 Wine Festival: LeAnn Rimes concert in Naples home fetches $1.2 million

LeAnn Rimes attends the 2010 CMT Awards in Nashville, Tenn. Wednesday, June 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer)

NAPLES — They took their chance on a "Magical Ticket" and it paid off.

The tickets, dreamed up by the 2012 chairs of the Naples Winter Wine Festival, raised the most money at this year's auction, fetching $1.22 million.

The tickets were sold to the top 100 bidders, offering access to an exclusive, private concert put on by Grammy Award-winner LeAnn Rimes at a beachfront estate in Port Royal owned by billionaire Michael DeGroote Sr. The auction lot includes wines and food prepared by celebrity chef Tom Colicchio.

Festival chairs Bob and Joan Clifford didn't know what to expect when they thought up the ticket idea.

"We took a big chance on it," he said. "We had no idea how it would work."

It fit well with the festival's theme this year: "Believe in the Magic."

Festival-goers were handed oversized tickets, asking them to make their "magical bid." Bids started at $5,000 a ticket and went up to $20,000 a ticket. The most expensive ticket included VIP seating, a meet-and-greet with Rimes and a photo with the star.

Bidders silently checked off the amount they were willing to pay on the golden ticket. The tickets were then collected and the top 100 bidders won. The total, which took time to tally, was announced later in the auction to wild applause.

"That was a real home run," Bob Clifford said.

Longtime festival trustees Bill and Ann Bain were bidders and won two tickets.

"I am a huge country music fan," Ann Bain said.

She's liked Rimes since the singer released her debut album, "Blue," in 1996. She gave credit to the Cliffords for coming up with such a creative idea.

"It was huge," Ann Bain said.

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