Tuscan winery Ornellaia collaborates with artist William Kentridge on limited edition labels and artworks
Italy and wine are both close to artist William Kentridge’s heart, so when Tuscan vineyard Ornellaia approached the South African artist to create a series of limited edition labels to celebrate its 2015 harvest, Kentridge agreed. Memories of grape picking near Florence with his family – and the hard toil involved – came flooding back.
‘Within minutes, your hands are full of juice, they stick to the secateurs and your back aches,’ he recalls. Using his trademark charcoal, Kentridge sketched ten labels highlighting the said hard labour; workers are depicted carrying baskets on their heads, and tools of the trade - secateurs, corkscrews and openers, morph into human-like figures. Kentridge created his depictions on antique Italian cashbooks found in flea markets around Tuscany. ‘I always prefer to draw on old papers with history rather than something new and white,’ he says. ‘They are in large supply in my studio in Johannesburg.’
Kentridge used antique Italian cashbooks sourced from flea markets around Tuscany, preferring to draw on old papers with history
The artist, who is also a celebrated filmmaker, scenographer and theatre director, claims to have completed more projects in Italy than in any other country. Among them are the 1800-foot-long frieze Triumphs and Laments installed in Rome along the banks of the River Tiber in 2016, and numerous operas at Milan’s La Scala. Kentridge has reworked two of the drawings on the labels – a lattice corkscrew and a woman whose head is a basket of grapes – into three-metre high black steel sculptures which sill shortly be installed permanently on the Ornellaia estate. They will sit alongside works from the nine other artists with whom 97 hectare vineyard has collaborated over the past decade. These include Ernesto Neto in 2014, Rodney Graham in 2011 and Michelangelo Pistoletto in 2010.
As with Ornellaia’s previous Vendemmia D’Artista projects, Kentridge’s limited editon labels appear on bottles of all sizes from regular 750ml versions to a nine-litre Salmanazar. They were auctioned in nine lots at Sotheby’s alongside other rare Ornellaia vintages and raised 140,000 euros. So far, Ornellaia’s art project has raised around 2m euros for museums and art foundations around the world.
But the other star of the project is the wine itself; Ornellaia 2015 Il Carisma is the estate’s 30th vintage, and according to the experts, it is also one of the best, thanks to a particularly well-balanced harvest. We’ll drink to that.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Ornellaia website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Emma O'Kelly is a freelance journalist and author based in London. Her books include Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat and she is currently working on a UK guide to wild saunas, due to be published in 2025.
-
Remembering Christopher Charles Benninger (1942-2024)
Architect Christopher Charles Benninger has died in Pune, India, at the age of 82; we honour and reflect on his passing
By Aastha D Published
-
Chanel shows its sporting colours with a bold high jewellery collection
Chanel's high jewellery collection is inspired by its founder’s athletic aesthetic
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Sarah Solis’ first furniture collection is an homage to art deco
‘Is it weird to call furniture sexy?’ Los Angeles-based designer Sarah Solis discusses her debut furniture line and new brand and store, Galerie Solis
By Dan Howarth Published
-
Toklas’ own-label wine is a synergy of art, taste and ‘elevated simplicity’
Toklas, a London restaurant and bakery, have added another string to its bow ( and menu) with a trio of cuvées with limited-edition designs
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Château Galoupet is teaching the world how to drink more responsibly
From reviving an endangered Provençal ecosystem to revisiting wine packaging, Château Galoupet aims to transform winemaking from terroir to bottle
By Mary Cleary Last updated
-
London’s most refreshing summer cocktail destinations
Cool down in the sweltering city with a visit to London’s summer cocktail destinations
By Mary Cleary Last updated
-
Learn how to curate a simple cheese board with perfect port pairings
The experts at artisan cheesemonger Paxton & Whitfield share tips for curating a simple but sophisticated cheese board, with port and cheese pairings for every taste
By Melina Keays Last updated
-
IWA sake brewery by Kengo Kuma is Best Roofscape: Wallpaper* Design Awards 2022
IWA sake brewery in Japan, by Kengo Kuma & Associates, scoops Best Roofscape at the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2022
By Tony Chambers Last updated
-
The Chuan Malt Whisky Distillery by Neri & Hu offers a twist on Chinese tradition
Neri & Hu designs headquarters for The Chuan Malt Whisky Distillery in China's Sichuan province
By Yoko Choy Last updated
-
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel opens Booking Office 1869 restaurant
Booking Office 1869 restaurant, at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, is set to become a new London hotspot. Developer Harry Handelsman and designer Hugo Toro tell us about its creation
By Mary Cleary Last updated
-
Sweet Sauternes: France’s forgotten wine gets a reputational makeover
Saskia de Rothschild is on a mission to revive the popularity of Sauternes white wine, with Rieussec, produced and packaged with a fresh, more sustainable approach
By Mary Cleary Last updated