EVENT IMAGES

Tango in the Caves

ARROW Destination Marketing Group event consultants were retained by Lancaster Estates Winery in Healdsburg to align the image of the brand with a luxury hospitality experience at an estate level. The promotional event was designed to thank the current 100 wine club members who had faithfully purchased wine monthly via mail order, as well as to introduce a new tier of membership activity to the Wine Club by touching those individuals that were already ambassadors to the brand. 

The goal of the event was to convince each wine club member to invite five friends to participate in a second tiered wine club. The event was targeted to create an exclusive waiting list of devoted wine lovers who would promote the label by word of mouth and take the wine club from 100 members to an additional 500 members while leaving the original members with a sense of privilege and exclusivity to the wine club group.

ARROW established the theme as “It takes two to tango” – the winery sought the members' help in building the wine club to a membership level that supported the boutique winery's efforts in sustaining a luxury brand based on 10,000 cases annually. The event logo and collateral was developed and the event marketed as “Tango in the Caves”. 

The wine cave on the property was a cool, dim industrial environment that served as the winemaker’s barrel room all year long. The venue underwent a major transformation to be able host 200 people for dinner. The caves were transformed by the talents of our event designers, lighting and sound specialists, and entertainment experts. With the talent in place, the ten thousand square feet of caves were transformed into a décor reminiscent of a tango night club in early Argentina. A duo of acoustic guitarists who specialize in theme music were retained for the event.

Exquisite layered iridescent linens lined the tables for the length of the cave. ARROW designed a menu to pair with the Bordeaux inspired blends from this prestigious Sonoma County Winery, served in Riedel crystal glassware. A sumptuous dinner in the caves was prepared by noted Napa Valley Chef, Peter McCaffrey.

ARROW Destination Marketing Group managed each detail of the event as well as the event photography to record the special evening.

The invited wine club members arrived in black tie attire to a sumptuous outdoor Dom Perignon reception to the strum of gentle guitar music from natives of Argentina.  The massive cedar lined caved doors opened on cue to the lavish venue and the attendees followed the acoustic guitars thru the doors to find their seats around a central stage. 

The winery welcomed the exclusive wine club members and the wines to be poured were featured and described at length by the management of the winery. As the first course was served and cleared, the music changed and the internationally-known tango partners Miriam Larici and Hugo Patyn (from the cast of the acclaimed Luis Bravo’s original Broadway show, Forever Tango) appeared from the darkness. Lit to highlight their exquisite beauty and impressive talent the show began. The dancers performed a dance in the caves between each course captivating the wine club members.

The winemaker kept a small thermometer on his table and shared that each moment the dancers began to perform the temperature in the caves went up an average of ten degrees from the excitement in the room. It was a sensual memorable evening and the winemaker spoke to the group that such talent and passion would only enhance the wine he was nurturing in each barrel. He was found later that week in the caves humming to the event music as he tended his wine barrels. 

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