If you’ve attended the St. Croix Foundation’s “Wine in the Warehouse” in years prior to 2019, and then made your way to the Bohlke Airways hangar, where the event was held for the fourth year on Saturday evening, one thing you’d notice was the growth in attendance.
Inside the hangar, outside the hanger, under a tent with VIP furnishings, hundreds mingled, danced, networked and lounged during the St. Croix Foundation’s 12th annual affair, which serves as one of multiple fundraisers collectively called the Food and Wine Experience.
“We are really, really grateful to all the people that came out. This was our best ever event — sold out,” said St. Croix Foundation President Deanna James. “We are really, really honored to say that there were a lot of great sponsors that allowed us to do this, that help us raise money for our operations and for our programming.”
Ms. James’s disclosure that the event was sold-out was not hard to believe. The hangar was at capacity last night with a mix of who’s who, public officials, entertainers and businesspeople, who allowed themselves to let loose, aided by wine, of course, in an atmosphere tailor-made for the carefree tendencies of humanity.
Wine in the Warehouse at Bohlke Airways gives a unique experience that includes at least some similarities of travel. During prior events, volunteers have dressed like flight attendants and pilots, and attendees have been presented with a passport that gave access to the hanger. Volunteers were dressed as flight attendants on Saturday, and eventgoers sat in private jets where they sipped wine and snapped pictures.
“This event was a success and it was wonderful. Lots and lots of people,” said Andrea Harrah, office manager for Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits of the Caribbean, a gold sponsor of the Food and Wine Experience this year.
Inside the hanger, long lengths of tables were made enviable by bite-size eats and a variety of wine offerings; the voices of entertainers filled the entire area with all kinds of music; and the people responded accordingly.
The Department of Tourism was once again the Food and Wine Experience’s platinum sponsor. The experience’s last event, called the Gourmet Vintner Dinner, takes place at The Galleon this evening and starts at 6:00 p.m.