On February 21, Premiere Napa Valley’s annual barrel auction raked in $6 million in total (an average of $286 per bottle), surpassing last year’s record-setting sum of $5.9 million and making it the event’s most successful sale to date. Following a walk-around tasting, dozens of buyers from some of the top retail and restaurant outlets in the world vied for the 225 small lots of wine, all of which were created exclusively for the event. The highest overall bidder was Total Wine & More, an independent retai…