At 6.45am, Tara Vincent whips out a ruler.
Absolute symmetry is the goal as she meticulously works her way around four tables, measuring out plate and cutlery settings inside official supplier Champagne Lanson’s private chalet. “There should be exactly one inch between the table edge and the bottom of the cutlery,” she says, as she aligns linen napkins with knife and fork.
“The dessert fork and spoon lie above the plate, one inch below the place card inscribed with each guest’s name. The names are handwritten under our Maltese Cross symbol, which is centred exactly between first name and surname.”
At Wimbledon, we have ground staff trimming grass edges of net post sockets with nail scissors, petunias planted to coordinate with club colours and players being ultra-fastidious about their racket stringing preferences.
This attention-to-detail obsession prevails like a healthy version of mass hysteria: every day induces a spontaneous manifestation of precision work all around The Grounds. Down in the Marquee Village, Tara has the reputation for being the first on site – waking up at 4am, catching a 5.30am train – to arrive at 6.15am and ensure Lanson’s guests enjoy the Perfect Start.
A private marquee comprises an air-conditioned chalet with bar and tables, and an outside garden area with tables under sun umbrellas. Inside the Lanson chalet, each table setting also needs four glasses for the different champagnes offered with the starter, main course, dessert and afternoon tea – and space to accommodate a fifth (the flute of Lanson Rose that guests are offered on arrival).
Glasses can be different shapes to suit the champagnes selected to complement the menu of the day. Lanson White Label, for example, needs a slightly wider Esprit de Vin glass whereas Lanson Rose works best in a flute.
Forty minutes after she’s finished surveying the neat mini forests of glasses, Tara circumnavigates each white-draped table again, carefully placing guests’ tickets for Centre or No.1 Court discreetly within the fold of the napkin, perfectly centred to show row, seat number and block at a glance. And then another loop to allocate gifts and programmes.
Guests are invited ‘plus one’. Main invitees receive a gift in the form of a bottle of Lanson Rose or Black Label in a pink or yellow neoprene jacket – positioned directly above their plate; their companion will have a programme on their chair.
By now it is 8.15am, and time to check the stunning bowl of flowers in the centre of each table. In this heat delicate rose petals drop quickly. “Once the tables are sorted, I work with Michael, the chalet manager, to make sure we have our allocation of champagne. We like to serve magnums, which contain 12 glasses and they go in the fridge. We greet guests with a Methuselah of Lanson Rose – the equivalent of eight bottles – and that goes on ice.”
At 9.30am, Tara and her boss Paul Beavis, the managing director of Lanson, go through the brief of the day, and catch up on emails (away from the Championships Tara is Paul’s executive assistant) before she retreats to put on make-up and a summery dress.
At 11.15am, guests arrive, abuzz with the novelty of the chalet’s decor – an astro-turf replica of court and net adorn one wall, a curtain of balls on strings hang outside. They are here to enjoy the tennis but also to experience the delicious taste and range of the champagnes, which are picked to match the day’s menu.
Typically that includes a choice of three starters: smoked salmon, asparagus and Parma ham or mushroom quiche with a glass of Lanson Black Label. A main course comprises a selection of coronation chicken, Asian beef noodle salad, poached salmon with new potatoes, augmented by a Lanson Extra Aged Blanc de Blanc. Lunch is rounded off by desserts of strawberries and cream, lemon tart and vanilla custard pudding with more Lanson Rose.
Just before 1pm, guests leave for Centre and No.1 Courts in time for play to start. “I am always thrilled by the reaction when I give our guests a small bottle of Lanson Black Label in a neoprene jacket to drink with a straw on court,” she says. “They are free to use the chalet as home, dropping back for a drink between matches and a chat with other guests. The relaxed environment is conducive to creative business conversations.” Afternoon tea is on offer from 3.30pm onwards: sandwiches, cream tea and pastries, served with Lanson Wimbledon White Label and Rose.
From 1pm onwards, Tara undertakes any tasks required by guests: charging mobile phones, organising taxis, booking restaurants for dinner and so on. Nothing is left to routine or assumption. No two days are the same. On Day 1, Lanson hosted media guests, including national news anchors Mark Austin and Charlene White from ITV, Simon McCoy of the BBC and Kay Burley from Sky. Days 3, 4 and 5 were dedicated to trade guests. Next week, they will entertain export markets and specialist guests.
“By 9.45pm, everyone has left,” Tara says. “Michael and I debrief, set up for the following day, going through dietary and special needs requirements and then I catch a taxi home. I’m there by 11.30pm, ready to set the alarm for 4am...”
