23 May ORNELLAIA Vendemmia d’Artista: Expressing Wine Through Art

Wine collectors and art collectors converged for a night of elegance at the Ornellaia Vendemmia d’Artista at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. For the wine lovers out there, Ornellaia is known as one of the great Super Tuscan wines. But in addition to making exquisite Bordeaux-style wines, Ornellaia is also a patron of the arts. With a passion for the arts, Ornellaia created the Vendemmia d’Artista with the goal to inspire and generate emotion. Beginning in 2009, with the 2006 vintage, contemporary artists of international renown from Italy, New York, Berlin, Hong Kong, London, Toronto and Basel have been selected to create a work of art and a series of limited edition labels that are inspired by a single word chosen by the winemaker to describe that vintage. The single word selected celebrates the unique character of each new vintage. Beginning in 2006, vintages have been called l’Esuberanza (hope), l’Armonia (harmony),  l’Energia (energy), l’Equilibrio (balance), La Celebrazione (celebration), l’Infinito (infinity) and l’Incanto (enchantment). And for the 2013 vintage, the single word used to describe it is l’Eleganza (elegance). The artist selected to embody the 2013 l’Eleganza vintage is Yutaka Sone, a Japanese artist who lives in Pasadena, California. Sone travelled to Italy where he was inspired by the marble quarries of Carrara where Michelangelo acquired the stone for his sculptures. As he is based in Los Angeles, the 8th annual Vendemmia d’Artista was held at the Hammer Museum in Westwood. We sat down for dinner, which was catered by Lucques. A dinner of Ornellaia wines is a special treat….. But the dinner is all the more special as the meal was prepared by Chef Suzanne Goin, the 2016 recipient of the James Beard Outstanding Chef award.   After the gala dinner, the auction began with auctioneer Andrea Fiuczynski, EVP/Chairman, Sotheby’s Americas. The auction included: a label created by the artist for one bottle in each wooden case of Ornellaia (6 pack), a limited edition of 111 large size bottles (100 double magnums (3L), 8 Imperials (6L) and 1 Salmanazar (9L). Each item is numbered and signed by the artist. In addition, Sone has created a special work of art for the Ornellaia Estate. Since 2009, Ornellaia has donated more than 1 million euros to arts charities through the Vendemmia d’Artista project. The 8th Annual Vendemmia d’Artista in Los Angeles auction specifically raised 114,000 euros, with all proceeds going to the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. The auction proceeds will benefit the museum’s exhibitions, collections, and nearly 300 annual public programs, all of which are free to the public.