Auction Napa Valley 2008 officially welcomed attendees Thursday with a round of eye-popping parties that ranged from a lobster feast to a country-and-western hoe-down attended by an African princess.

Members of the sponsoring Napa Valley Vintners pulled out all the stops to ensure auction bidders, media attendees and guests were in a celebratory mood for the annual live charity event that, to date, has raised more than $80 million for health care, youth and housing endeavors here.

David and Yolanda Del Dotto welcomed more than seven dozen revelers to a masked ball at their St. Helena winery, a spectacular structure created in the style of a Venetian palace.

Indeed, the party was reminiscent of one that would have been held at the Doge’s Palace, with Giovanni Del Dotto offering private tours of the magnificent wine cellar. His sister, Desiree, helped celebrants adjust everything from exotic masks to dinner table place cards.

Del Dotto Estates executive chef Joshua Schwartz prepared and served a Venetian feast that included toothsome smoked mozzarella and oregano pizzettas, truffle-buttered coquilles St. Jacques, duck breast and liver with riso nero, beef tenderloin with crispy onion rings, topped off with vanilla gelato, all washed down with Del Dotto sangiovese, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon and a chardonnay worthy of its Montrachet heritage.

Once guests had licked their plates clean, Giovanni lowered a disco ball, Desiree cued the band and guests danced the night away on the winery’s beautiful tile floor.

Down Highway 29, at Domaine Chandon, a crowd was busy sipping Chandon Brut and Rosé, groovin’ on the tunes supplied by a cool dee jay from the city.

“We’re expecting between 350 and 400,” advised Matteo Villaneuva, manager of restaurant étoile, as he directed a parade of staffers to replace the charcuterie, cheese and paté plates that ringed the makeshift outdoor dance floor.

A wealth of well-coifed, smartly dressed young ladies sized up an equally spiffy group of young men as the music took hold and the sun slowly set.

A little to the south, Barb and Bart O’Brien were hosting Date Night at the Drive-In, at O’Brien Estate. After dining on “gourmet drive-in food,” guests wandered along romantic candlelit vineyard paths and kicked back to enjoy a screening of the Elvis Presley classic, “Viva Las Vegas,” projected on a wall of the rustic winery.

Guests were able to dig into gourmet mac and cheese, hot dogs, milkshakes and popcorn as well as sip winemaker David Yorgensen’s barrel samples of outstanding young merlot.

It was a warm night under the starry sky and auction guests seemed to be enjoying Mother Nature’s gift. As a slip of a moon settled in the west, most drifted off to welcoming beds, eager to rest up before the dawn of another exciting day in wine country.