(Wine-Searcher) - There were no Scarecrow moments at this year's auction, but average prices and total money spent are up.

The "IPO of the 2013 vintage" for Napa Valley revealed a market thirsty for Cabernet and willing to spend thousands of dollars for it.

This year's Premiere Napa Valley auction didn't have a Wizard of Oz-size hit, though nine wines sold for $1000 a bottle or more. But the average bottle sold for an astounding $286. And the annual auction for the wine trade raked in just over $6 million on Saturday, breaking last year's overall record of $5.9 million, and continuing an upward trend; the 2012 auction also set a record at a now-modest-seeming $3.1 million.

Napa Valley usually claims that every year is a great vintage. Premiere is where professional wine buyers put their money on that statement. What was most impressive about the bidding Saturday wasn't the tens of thousands spent on unique single-barrel lots made by Philippe Melka for new wineries you've never heard of. Instead, with more than 21,000 bottles auctioned in about three-and-a-half hours, the high prices for just about everything showed that the trade thinks 2013 Napa wines are something special.

"2013, I find the vintage to be a little bit better than 2012," said Glen Knight, domestic wine buyer for the Wine House in Los Angeles. "It's a little more age-worthy. They're more integrated out of the barrel."

Many varieties were on offer, but as always Cabernet was king. All of the top wines were Cabs, and only one sold for less than $100 a bottle. And that's the wholesale price. Most of the wines were bought by retailers who will add a markup before offering them to their most loyal customers.

But the highest priced wine, Pritchard Hill's 2013 Brand Napa Valley Double Barrel Elevation 1588 Cabernet Sauvignon, was an exception in more ways than one. Not only were the buyers four wine lovers who plan to drink it themselves; in an auction dominated by Americans, they are from Switzerland. They spent $115,000 for 60 bottles: $1917 per bottle.

"We hoped to have it for a little less," said Gregor Greber. "But we got a little emotional."

Greber and three of his friends in Zurich will each get 15 bottles. Like all 225 of the wines sold Saturday, it was a special lot made for the auction and will get a special Premiere Napa Valley label when it is bottled. None of the wines are available yet; the Brand isn't expected to be delivered to Greber and friends until October 2017.

The unique nature of the wines is a big selling point in a valley that thrives on exclusivity. Many, like the 2013 Memento Mori RTL Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon that sold for $1333 a bottle, are single-vineyard barrel selections. But others, like the 2013 Chateau Boswell Green eNVy Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon ($1667 a bottle), were one-barrel blends made for the auction.