Blending Cultures
Following a grapevine’s path from home and back, one Life Member cultivates enduring bonds at the Club.
Georgia Bannister began her wine journey in New York at the tender age of 21, working for Wine Australia.
She then worked with Moët Hennessy for more than six years in Australia and Hong Kong. Along the way, she learned the ins and outs of the wine business.
The experience helped her transition after wedding bells rang and she moved to Japan in 2014 to be with her husband, Phil, whose work was based in Tokyo.
“That was the start of our journey,” Bannister recalls. “I joined the Club in 2017, about five months after my son was born, because we really wanted to benefit from the great family facilities.”
The family grew with the arrival of a daughter, and the Club became a central part of life. When Bannister returned to work, the Winter Garden was the ideal place to meet with clients. And the benefits for the children were all she had hoped for.
“All the extracurricular activities like gymnastics, ballet lessons, swimming, along with the international exposure … I think they are better for it,” says the Life Member.
Last summer, the family made the move back to Bannister’s native country, and she landed on the beautiful Mornington Peninsula among the lush vineyards of Polperro Wines. Leaving the Club behind was not easy, but it remains an important part of her life and is home base when she is back in town for work or to visit friends and Phil’s mother.
This month Bannister returns with Polperro founder Sam Coverdale for a special dinner in the Brooklyn rooms. Members will be among the first people in the world to taste Polperro’s newly released single-vineyard wines.
Bannister says her new life with Polperro is a lot like what she experienced at the Club, a sense of family growing out of collaboration with others, and she wants to share it with fellow Members.
“When you work for a winery, which is from your home country, for a family that is working hard, you really feel like you invest heavily emotionally in the journey,” she explains.“Shadowing a winemaker is extremely enlightening, and I want great success for Sam and his wife Emma, because the hard work and dedication they both put in is just incredible. It shows in the quality of the wine and the entire experience we create for guests at Polperro.”
As excited as Bannister is to share the fruits of labor, it’s not the only reason she’s looking forward to being back. The Club feels like returning home every time she is in town. Like that old pub in Boston, everyone seems to know your name. During a visit in January, her daughter and son, now 5 and 7, were running through Club Med and caught the eye of Ronnie Navarro. “He asked, ‘Is that Evie and Tommy?’” Bannister says with a laugh. “He just couldn’t believe how tall they’d gotten. He’s known them since they were babies.”
Like fine wine, bonds formed at the Club get better with time.
Polperro Wine Dinner
May 21 | 7–9:30pm
Words: C Bryan Jones
Image of Georgia Bannister at Polperro Winery: Katherine Jamison Photography
