WINE AUCTION & CELEBRATION TO BENEFIT THE ARTS CENTER OF COASTAL CAROLINA'S EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C.-Picture yourself and 13 of your closest friends sipping martinis on the private beach of a tropical oceanfront estate in Costa Rica's lush Cabo Blanco Reserve with a fulltime house staff of seven at your beck and call.

"Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" has nothing on this dream vacation, one of several spectacular trips up for grabs at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina's Wine Auction & Gala.

The signature event of the 10-day Wine Auction & Celebration, the black tie soiree is the Arts Center's biggest fundraiser of the year and one of the island's premier social events of the season.

"It's an opportunity to indulge without guilt," said F. James McCarl, co-chairman of the Wine Celebration. "You're contributing to an organization that adds enormously to the quality of life of this community."

The Celebration starts this Friday with a Champagne and Caviar Reception at Morris & Whiteside Galleries, followed March 29, 30 and 31 by the popular Celebrity Chef and Vintner Dinners. The schedule also includes several new events: two wine seminars and a cooking demonstration and wine tasting, all taking place March 31.

The festivities wrap up April 1 with the Wine Auction & Gala being held for the first time off the grounds of the Arts Center at the AAA Four-Diamond Westin Resort Hilton Head Island. Starting at 5:30 p.m., guests will have the opportunity to participate in a silent auction and sample wine from such well-known vineyards as BR Cohn, Chateau Boswell, Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, Garretson, Grgich Hills, Jade Mountain Winery, Loring, Moon Mountain Sonoma, Phelps, Providence, Siduri and Silver Oak Cellars.

After dinner, David Reynolds, the most sought-after charity auctioneer in the country, will take the podium, coaxing arts-minded attendees to dig deep as they bid on an extraordinary selection of lots that run the gamut from hard-to-find bottles of wine to original art. Proceeds from the auction and all other Wine Celebration events benefit the Arts Center's many education and outreach programs, which include student field trips, community festivals and artist-in-residency programs offered at no cost to area schools.

Wine aficionados will be especially pleased with the outstanding wine collections the acquisition committee has assembled this year. Sure to be hot-selling lots are Wine Spectator's Fifty Top Napa Cabernets, eight bottles of "perfect" 100-point wines, one bottle of each of the five great 1982 First Growth Bordeaux and several vertical collections, including Opus One, Dominus, Heitz Cellar Trailside Vineyard and Pichon Lalande.

In addition to the one-week Costa Rican holiday, guests will have the opportunity to bid on a trip for four to California wine country with tours and tastings at eight Napa wineries; a Colorado vacation package for six featuring three nights at the exclusive Roaring Fork Club in Basalt and three nights in nearby Aspen; and a weekend for three couples at The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, recently honored by Conde Nast Traveler readers as the No. 2 Best Resort in the United States.

Also going on the block, a cocktail party for 40 at the prestigious Red Piano Art Gallery, dinner and wine for 10 in the South Carolina Yacht Club's private wine cellar, a five-course dinner for 10 at Michael Anthony's Cucina Italiana personally prepared by Executive Chef Michael Cirafesi and a Westin-catered dinner with A Chorus Line director Casey Colgan and musical director Jasper Grant in the Arts Center's elegant Heritage Classic Foundation Room.

Tickets to the Wine Auction & Celebration are $250 per person, $3,500 for special vintner tables for eight or $5,000 for a corporate table. For reservations, call the Arts Center at 686-3945.