First unveiled in Paris last September at the stock exchange, the 1996 vintage Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blanc and Rosé launched in the U.S. at the Museum of the City of New York on March 26, with a soiree designed to entertain with more than just free bubbly. Consultant Susan Shin of Shin Advisors, Dom Ruinart brand manager Stephanie Chassing, and XA, the Experiential Agency collaborated to ensure that the cocktail and dinner party spoke to the brand’s heritage (House of Ruinart is one of the world’s oldest Champagne houses) without being dull. Their solution? A fashion tableau styled by Tracy Stern, owner of SalonTea (and the designer responsible for the Hitchcock-inspired table at Diffa’s Dining by Design benefit). Revelers—an intimate guest list of social types including Fabiola Beracasa, Tinsley and Topper Mortimer, Douglas Hannant, and Matthew Modine—joined models wearing 17th-century-style clothing in the tableau, interacting with them and posing for photographs. “We really wanted an element of interaction with the New York event. The tableau creates art within art, and the guests are essentially participating within a painting,” Shin said.
—Alison StuartPosted 03.30.07
Photos: Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan (tableau, bottles, dinner, cellist), BizBash (all others)
—Alison StuartPosted 03.30.07
Photos: Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan (tableau, bottles, dinner, cellist), BizBash (all others)
Drawing upon the brand’s history, the planners created a tableau of live models participating in art-related activities such as painting, reading, and playing the cello. “Our entire theme reflected Tracy Stern’s personal style,” Shin said. “The furniture in the tableau were rentals as well as items from her own home.”
The hosts invited guests to be photographed with the models, giving the portraits as gifts at the end of the evening.
The new bottles have a velvet ribbon used to remove the cap, which was incorporated into the decor for the dinner table.
Guests nibbled on canapés, including Maine peekytoe crab with green apple gelée in cucumber cups, and sipped Dom Ruinart on the first floor before heading upstairs for an elaborate dinner.
An electronic cellist played throughout dinner. “It’s 17th-century classical music brought into the modern century,” Shin said.
“We created a lush, lavish look without being gaudy, and without spending too much. For example, we covered the halogen with amber paper to create a warm glow to the room,” said XA’s Lalka Morales.
The colors on the dinner table—gold, brown, amber, and white—echoed those in the fashion tableau.
An intimate Champagne tasting dinner hosted by Ruinart C.E.O. Stéphane Baschiera started with sea-scallop ceviche with citrus dressing and young mâche followed by a choice of a duo of duck with roasted magret and braised legs or sea bass with baby spinach and white roots.
