Tufts of wheatgrass hedging a bar teeming with oysters, arrangements of white flowers atop any available surface, a couple of wicker chairs, and a terrace blanketed with real grass set the scene at the Glasshouses at the Chelsea Arts Tower for the September 13 launch of Cloudy Bay's latest vintage. Looking for a fresh way to introduce its 2012 sauvignon blanc, the New Zealand winery added softer, organic elements reminiscent of its rural locale as a contrast to the venue's sharp angles and modern lines.
Valerie Couture, an event production manager with Shiraz Events, the company tapped to design and execute the event, explained the look was designed to provide an experiential environment representative of the wine itself. "Cloudy Bay is a very clean, crisp sort of wine, so I tried to get the visual reference for that," said Couture. "If you taste Cloudy Bay, there's a sort of grassiness to it … I knew there needed to be an element of that. I wanted to pick up the notes within the product itself by taking green elements and bringing them in."
More nods to New Zealand included seafood dishes prepared by chef David Burke and images of the country's idyllic landscape projected onto the walls.