During the last weekend of March, the city of Cluj seemed to have been restored to its former glory. Joviality was again floating in the air, at least around Central Park, where WineUp fair took place.
WineUp Fair in Transylvania is the first of, we hope, a long series that will follow. Ioana Micu and the team did an excellent job in turning a wine fair into a cultural concept. If the location of the event was the “mousse”, the great planning was the “champagne”.
The fair was hosted by the old, yet recently restored CASINO in the central park. Casino building is an eclectic auditorium with Vienesse influences, a genuine palace of Cluj. What better place to enjoy fantastic wines?
And, since you got used to short and direct texts, I will schematically relate what we loved most at this event:
– The stands. Specifically fabricated for this event, they all looked the same, stylish and modern.
– The shop. At the fair’s exit there was a special place where visitors could buy the wines they were impressed by.
– Bracelets instead of tickets, because I love details.
– The Master-Classes. Some of the high-class people in the national and international wine industry delivered lectures about wines, divided into categories: amateurs and connoisseurs.
– Wine glasses engraved with “WineUp”, also because I love details.
– During each evening of the fair, WineUp in the City meetings took place in different venues in Cluj.
– Apart from Moet Chandon presence, we were also pleased to see some of the most stylish wineries in the country: DAVINO, Petro Vaselo, Corcova Roy&Dâmboviceanu, Liliac, La Salina (released during the fair), Nachbil, Rătești, Villa Vinea, Vinca, Cramele Recaș, Crama Oprișor, Gramma, Crama Gîrboiu and others. The full list can be found here.
- We enjoyed the presence of extraordinary people from the wine industry, as well as young people eager to discover it.
The organizers say that the idea of the WineUp Fair in Transylvania concept naturally emerged as a niche necessity on the designated market, offering a new model of presenting and promoting Romanian wine at a national and international level, and we gladly support and applaud them.
TEXT: Alexandra Hash ▪ ▪ ▪ PHOTO: Alina Iancu
