Put on your fancy pants with Lot18 Experiences

The fine wine flash sale site branches into wine-themed travel and excursions

Nothing says “fancy pants” like joining a fine wine club.  Now, fine wine flash sale site Lot18 is getting even fancier on your pants with the launch of Lot18 Experiences, its new wine-themed travel and excursions branch.

The new vertical includes offers on exclusive getaways and excursions, such as food and wine pairings at Michelin-starred restaurants, tickets to wine festivals and tastings, and more.  For example, one of the packages currently being offered on the site includes an exclusive four-course dinner at the Royal Oak restaurant at the Silverado Resort in Napa, which comes with a pairing with six Napa wines, as well as access to the Silver Pass Saturday Grand Tasting, the Silverado Trail Winery’s annual wine festival.  The package costs $199 per person.

Or, if you want a more thorough wine experience and you have a little extra cash to throw down, you can take an eight-country wine tour and stay at some of the top luxury resorts in the world.  The seven-week travel package (which can be broken up into individual trips, if desired) covers Napa (of course), Argentina, South Africa, Portugal, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy.  How much does such a package cost?  No less than $100,000.

“When people travel to wine country, they create emotional connections with the specific vineyards, wines and gourmet foods that make such a visit memorable,” said Philip James, co-founder and President of Lot18, in a statement.

After forking over $100,000, you're darn skippy I'd be making an emotional connection.

The move into excursions and travel deals comes on the heels of Lot18’s latest expansion into food with the summer launch of Lot18 Gourmet, which offers deals on wine-themed foods, such as fine cheeses, chocolates, cured meats, caviar (fancy!), olive oil, and more.

And the site is growing, boasting over 550,000 members, which is up from 350,000 in June.  Lot18 has sold more than 500,000 bottles of wine since launching one year ago and is currently doing more than $1 million in monthly sales.

Packages and deals on luxury excursions—which may or may not include actual lodging or travel—is an interesting new trend.  Gilt Groupe recently made a splash in the luxury excursions space with the launch of Gilt City Hamptons House—an actual house in the Hamptons where Gilt spent the summer hosting dinner parties, film screenings, yoga retreats, and more for Gilt members.  

Lot18 was not immediately available for comment, but it will be interesting to see where this trend goes.