Business · product launch
Wine for a product launch: 100 guests, the press, and the product at the centre
A launch brings journalists, clients and partners together around something being unveiled: a range, a machine, a piece of software, a collection. The wine is not the star; it goes with the presentation and then the cocktail reception that follows. For 100 guests and two and a half hours of service, allow 60 bottles in cases, half sparkling, half dry white. The rest of the page covers what sets a launch apart from an opening: when to serve, the wine that shares the photo with the product, and a label with your brand.
The numbers for your launch
Set for 100 guests, 80% of them wine drinkers, two and a half hours of service: half an hour of welcome before the presentation, two hours of cocktail reception after it. The presentation itself is not counted; nobody drinks during the demonstration. Split half sparkling, half dry white, no red or rosé. If you only serve a toast after the presentation, bring the length down to one hour.
A launch is not an opening
At an opening, you celebrate a place: the toast as the ribbon is cut, two hours on your feet, 70% sparkling. At a launch, you present a product, and the running order sets a different pace:
The welcome
Guests arrive, find the sales team, spot their seats. One glass of dry white or one flute, no more: in twenty minutes they will need their hands free to film and applaud.
The presentation
During the demonstration, glasses are cleared. A glass standing next to a prototype, or spilled on a white tablecloth in the front row, makes a bad photo. Service resumes when the product is unveiled.
The cocktail reception
This is where most of the wine is drunk: guests stay, try the product, talk business, eat standing up. Sparkling and white in equal parts; the toast at the unveiling is made with the sparkling of that moment.
For 100 people standing over two hours, allow three waiters at the very least, one flute and one wine glass per guest, plus breakages: the details are on the glasses and waiters page. For a longer cocktail reception with no presentation, the cocktail reception page does the count over three hours.
The wine in the frame, next to the product
In press photos and in guests' posts, the bottle is often twenty centimetres from the product. It does not have to be expensive; it has to fit with what you are launching. Three cases we come across:
| What you are launching | What fits | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A high-end product: cosmetics, jewellery, cars | Champagne throughout the reception, a Pessac-Léognan white to take over | The client judges everything at the level of the product, the glass included. |
| A technical or B2B product: software, machinery, a service | Sparkling for the unveiling, then a dry white Bordeaux | A clean, fresh white that does not pull the conversation away. The budget goes on the product. |
| A food or regional product | A white and a sparkling chosen to suit what is being tasted | The wine must not drown the product. Tell us what will be served, and we will match it. |
At the calculator's “good” level, the 60 bottles cost about €1,380 incl. VAT, €13.80 per guest; €960 at the decent level, €2,310 at the grand cru level. Champagne is supplied; crémant, much cheaper, is available on request, price confirmed in the quote.
A label with your brand, and bottles to take away
A custom label with the product or brand name is possible on request. What can be done, for what quantity and in what time frame is settled in the quote, case by case: do not announce it to your communications team before you have the answer in writing. If the timing does not work, a neck collar or a case printed by your agency has the same effect in the photos.
On the invoice side, a launch with clients, partners and the press is a reception held in the interest of the business: VAT (TVA) on the wine served is as a rule deductible, with an invoice in the company's name and the guest list. A bottle given to each journalist on the way out, on the other hand, is a gift, with its own rules. Both cases are on the VAT on wine page.
How many bottles for a product launch for 100 people?
60 in cases of six: 30 sparkling and 30 dry white. That is 47 bottles before rounding for 80 drinkers over two and a half hours of service, two glasses in the first hour then one an hour, with an 8% margin and rounding up to the case for each colour. With two hours of service, it comes down to 48; with a simple one-hour toast, to 36.
What budget for the wine at a launch?
About €9.60 per guest incl. VAT for decent wines (€960 for 100), €13.80 at the “good” level (€1,380), €23.10 with a house champagne and a great white (€2,310). At the “good” level, the sparkling makes up 70% of the bill: that is where the choice is made, not on the white.
Can we have a label with the product name?
Yes, on request. Feasibility, quantity and time frame are confirmed in the quote, not before. Ask at first contact, with your date and the number of bottles: if the schedule is too tight, we will tell you, and a neck collar printed by your agency is still an option.
Should the wine be served before or after the presentation?
One welcome glass before, the rest after. During the demonstration, guests film, take notes, applaud: a full glass gets in their way and ends up on the floor. The unveiling is the right moment to open the sparkling; the rest happens as a cocktail reception.
Launch mistakes
- Serving during the demonstration. Glasses on the product stand mean the risk of a stained prototype in front of the press. Have them cleared before the video starts.
- Promising the custom label before you have it. The artwork is ready, the invitation announces it, and the timing does not work. Wait for confirmation in the quote.
- Counting invitations. The press replies late and comes in pairs. Count the replies, add 10% for plus-ones, no more: unopened cases are not taken back.
- Red at the reception. Standing up, near a light-coloured product or fabric, it is the only wine that leaves a mark. Nobody asks for it at a cocktail reception well served with white and sparkling.
Delivery times and terms: delivery page, rates to be confirmed. For your launch: request a business quote, reply within 48 working hours.