WineUp Fair in Transylvania

CASE STUDY: WineUp Fair in Transylvania  Annual premium wine event featuring ever-evolving themes and sensory experiences

OVERVIEW

WineUp Fair in Transylvania is an annual, premium, elegant, and exclusive wine fair in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Renowned for its innovative approach, each edition focuses on a unique theme that seamlessly combines wine with all the senses and creative disciplines.

THE CHALLENGE

To establish the first premium and exclusive international wine fair in Romania, we needed to:

• Find the perfect venue: A location that balances elegance, accessibility, and a unique identity worthy of an international event.

• Develop a distinct brand identity: Create a recognizable visual language and a clear concept that captures our premium positioning.

• Design premium exhibition stands: We aimed for a booth design that conveys the idea of wine—utilizing wood and copper, reminiscent of winery materials—in a modern, elegant way.

• Organize annual themes: To increase the fair’s visibility, attract a new and diverse audience each year, and keep the event dynamic and engaging, we introduced a new theme every year.

• Engage diverse communities: From wine enthusiasts and industry professionals to art lovers and foodies, we built bridges between different interest groups.

• Grow the WineUp community: By collaborating with top restaurants in the city, we elevated Cluj’s gastronomic culture and established a vibrant community centered on wine and culinary excellence.

KEY ELEMENTS

Exhibitor Stands

• Materials: Made of wood and copper to evoke the imagery of barrels and winemaking, with a modern, elegant touch.

• Customization: Each stand is personalized to reflect both the winery’s brand identity and the annual theme of the fair.

  
  
  
  

Choice of Venue

• Unique, elegant spaces: Hosted in distinctive locations in Cluj-Napoca, offering a setting designed to highlight wines and encourage socializing in an exclusive atmosphere.

Thematic Diversity

• Annual themes: Each year, WineUp explores the synergy between wine and a complementary field (e.g., art, gastronomy, storytelling), delivering a multi-sensory narrative.

• Evolving visual direction: Updated annually to match the theme, ensuring a dynamic, modern, and elegant look in promotional materials and event décor.

• WineUp community:

Integrated Communication with Exhibitors

• Brand identity alignment: The Exhibitors’ branding is integrated into the event’s overall graphic design, text communication, and photo/video materials, following that year’s artistic direction.

• Coherent approach: This strategy aligns all stands, promotional materials, and media content with WineUp’s sensory marketing strategy.

Annual Themes: A Showcase of Sensory Marketing and Innovation

2015 – WineUp Fair in Transylvania: “Putting Cluj on the International Wine Events Map”

• Main theme: Establishing Cluj-Napoca as a new international hub for premium wine events.

• Creative direction: Used the map of Transylvania as a backdrop, highlighting Cluj-Napoca as the host city, paired with modern fonts.

• Sensory highlights: Guests experienced premium wine tastings and exclusive gastronomic dinners led by international and national wine experts.

• Exclusive Lifestyle: The introductory course to the world of Moët & Chandon, presented by MARTINA  ILLEK, Brand Ambassador of Moet Hennessy Austria, paired with a gourmet dinner featuring the renowned champagnes of this house.

2016 – WineUp Official Selection: “A New Way of Wine Evaluation”

• Focus: Introducing a wine competition format to emphasize quality and provide expert-curated selections from participating wineries.

• Creative direction: Building on the previous year’s visual identity but updating it with modern elements to strengthen WineUp’s image in the collective memory.

• Sensory highlights: Masterclasses guided visitors through a structured tasting process, refining awareness of sight, smell, and taste, and how to take sensory notes.

• Exclusive Lifestyle: Master of Wine ESSI AVELLAN hosted an effervescent masterclass themed "The Essence of Champagne," providing a professional perspective on Moët Hennessy's Blanc de Blanc portfolio: Veuve Clicquot, Moët & Chandon, and Ruinart "competed" in their exclusive qualities. Every star in Ruinart's champagne arsenal shone during the gastronomic dinner.

  
  

2017 – Art & Wine: “A Fusion of Artistic Expression and Winemaking”

• Focus: Pairing the wine fair with an art exhibition centered on the theme “art and wine.”

• Creative Direction: Emphasized that wine is itself an art form, best represented when surrounded by artworks, hence placing wine “inside a picture frame.”

• Sensory Highlights: Visitors took part in an art exhibit opening alongside tastings that evoked each wine’s artistic interpretation.

• Exclusive Lifestyle: We integrated an immersive brand activation showcasing Veuve Clicquot's Rich Collection. From 'Only one quality, the finest' philosophy to Rich Collection, ESSI AVELLAN MW led a masterclass highlighting tradition and innovation, while a gastronomic dinner featured vintage champagnes. We demonstrated its versatility, from elegant brunches to vibrant parties, proving Veuve Clicquot's enduring appeal.

2018 – Sensory Exploration Kit

• Focus: Encouraging hands-on discovery of wine’s fundamental elements through a customized kit that includes a printed tasting guide, a specialized glass, a bottle, and a corkscrew.

• Creative Direction: A mix of photography and graphic design elements, bringing modernity and effervescence to the event.

• Sensory Highlights: Participants learned the rituals of tasting and evaluating wine step-by-step, emphasizing the importance of proper glassware and wine service.

• Exclusive Lifestyle: Guest - NICOLE SNOZZI, Brand Ambassador of LAURENT-PERRIER, who, through her passion and dedication, shared the captivating story of the champagne house. She held a fascinating masterclass and gastronomic dinner, at the end of which the Laurent-Perrier philosophy, “The best of the best with the best”, was validated and applauded by all participants.

2019 – The Art of Storytelling

• Focus: Showcasing each winery’s journey through written stories and sketches for every bottle of wine.

• Creative Direction: To underscore each winery’s story, the visuals featured graphic sketches paired with specially crafted text that highlighted the uniqueness of each winery.

• Sensory Highlights: Story-driven tastings in which narratives about terroir, history, and passion guided guests’ perceptions of taste and aroma.

• Exclusive Lifestyle: We were honored to host the legendary STEVEN SPURRIER, the figure who, in 1976, orchestrated the 'Judgment of Paris' – the blind tasting that dramatically shifted the wine world's perception by placing Californian wines on par with, and even above, their French counterparts. This event's profound impact continues to resonate.

  Embracing his 'I will let the wines judge me' philosophy, Steven Spurrier brought his expertise to the WineUp Official Selection. He meticulously assessed Romanian wines, providing an incisive evaluation of their quality and potential. His insights were then shared in a captivating masterclass, further solidifying his enduring influence on the global wine stage.

2022 – New Trends, New Vibes, Inclusion

• Focus: Promoting inclusivity in wine experiences—launching labels for people with visual impairments.

• Creative Direction: Tactile label samples, Braille signage, and vibrant color blocks emphasized universal design.

• Sensory Highlights: A masterclass and gourmet dinner where participants tasted wine and dined without the use of sight, encouraging empathy and innovative perspectives on inclusion and color symbolism.

• Inclusive Lifestyle: We pioneered a transformative approach, evolving lifestyle events into a powerful advocacy platform for visual inclusivity. By championing the use of color symbols, we're dedicated to empowering visually impaired individuals to experience the vibrant spectrum of life. Our groundbreaking 'Totally Blind Tasting' concept offers a truly unique sensory journey. Through immersive, sight-suppressed tastings and gastronomic dinners, participants explore an intensified world of flavor. This innovative experience, meticulously crafted by our team, delivers an unparalleled and profoundly illuminating culinary adventure, setting a new standard for sensory exploration.

2024 – The Year of Change: Wine and Gastronomy Evolving Toward Sustainability

• Focus: Presenting new trends in the world of wine and gastronomy through modern culinary events in synergy with contemporary directions that emphasize sustainability and climate change awareness.

• Creative Direction: Futuristic visual motifs combined with delectable food photography.

• Sensory Highlights: Gourmet dinners and brunches highlighting current trends, without sacrificing perfect dish-and-wine pairings—all guided by expert sommeliers and chefs.

• Exclusive Lifestyle: By changing the venue to Elania Resort, we are reinventing the fair concept. We are developing the "Symphony of senses, a Romanian gastronomy and wine reimagined", an immersive sensory experience, elevating food and wine pairings to unprecedented heights. Featuring Romania's most celebrated chefs, we curated a journey that celebrated living fully, savoring every moment with all senses engaged. This is more than an event; it is our philosophy.

2025 – A Journey Through Time

• Focus: An innovative installation transporting visitors through the past, present, and future of Romanian wineries.

• Creative Direction: A timeline with archival images and historical relics, alongside modern photos showcasing how today’s wineries stand on those historic foundations.

• Sensory Highlights: Multimedia displays immerse participants in the atmosphere of each winery for a complex new sensory experience, illustrating how wine production and flavor profiles have evolved over generations.

• Exclusive Lifestyle: Romanian gastronomy has much to offer, so, following our philosophy, concepts, and this year's theme, 'A Journey Through Time,' we will challenge the invited chefs to present reinterpreted old Romanian recipes, in which the dishes are specific to a geographical area of Romania. Is the gastronomy of Transylvania different from that of Moldova, Wallachia, and Oltenia?