A wine auction in California's Napa Valley has broken records and provided producers in the region with renewed confidence.

The Napa Valley Vintners' annual barrel auction at the weekend saw 200 winemakers offering special production lots of unbottled futures wine, raising a total of nearly $2.4 million (£1.5 million), Decanter reports.

As well as being the highest amount ever raised by the event, the record for the highest single lot was also broken at $125,000 (£77,000) for five cases of Scarecrow Wine, a well-known favourite of Robert Parker's.

"When I came to the auction, I intended to get that wine no matter what it took," said Tokyo-based winning bidder Ichizo Nakagawa.

Other notable lots at the event included Robert Mondavi, Silver Oak Cellars, Ovid and Beringer.

The auction follows an impressive showing for Burgundy at a recent Sotheby's auction in London, where a case of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti 1988 sold for £63,000.