Passengers don black tie dress for extraordinary feast in a cave

(TRAVPR.COM) VIETNAM - December 14th, 2011 - HALONG BAY, Vietnam — Talk about your limelight. In May 2012, several dozen passengers of Emeraude Classic Cruises, bedecked in black ties and gowns, will descend the gangplank and ascend a limestone pathway to the torch-lit grotto for a gala dinner.

The May 26-27 event will be the 8th Annual Wine Cruise for the Emeraude (http://www.emeraude-cruises.com), but the first since Halong Bay has been recognized as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

“There is no more picturesque space in the world to dine,” said Kurt Walter, group general manager of the Apple Tree Hospitality Group. “Elsewhere you might have great views, as you do from the entrance to Surprise Grotto, but as often as not you’ll be dining on a plain, old deck. With us, you’re dining in the magnificent maw of a limestone grotto.”

Like an event imported from the gilded age, the annual Wine Cruise is one of the premier events on Vietnam’s social calendar.

In 2012, the in-grotto dinner will be accompanied by vintages from the Rhone Valley’s M. Chapoutier Winery, including the Condrieu Invitare, Crozes-Hermitage "Les Meysonniers", La Bernardine Chateauneuf du Pape and Les Becasses Cote Rotie. in Condrieu, a village in France’s Rhone Valley.

A representative from M Chapoutier, Stephen Barlerin, will join the cruise.

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