Arts Design

EXQUISITE GRAPE WINE VESSELS

Courtesy of Ornellaia. L’Energia Salamanazar Bottle by Rebecca Horn.

In our quest for the most beautiful grapes and wine right now, we of course wanted to find the most beautiful vessels. And we found some exceptional offerings. From bottles, to decanters, to carafes, to glasses, these works of art truly celebrate and elevate their beautiful grape contents.

Photo: Courtesy of Ornellaia. L’Energia Salamanazar Bottle by Rebecca Horn.

The first is a sculptural bottle by artist Rebecca Horn created for the Vendemmia d’Artista project of Italian wine producer Tenuta dell’Ornellaiais. Known for her interest in alchemy and metaphysical forces, Horn produced L’Energia, a 9-liter Salmanazar, with a kinetic swirl of copper wire, cones, and mirrors, as an abstract orrery, to commemorate the vintner’s 2008 vintage. The bottle was recently auctioned, with proceeds benefitting Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie.

Photo: Courtesy of AAJ Press. Rebecca Horn L’Energia Vendemmia d’Artista.

The Vendemmia d’Artista program was designed to reestablish the traditions and values of Renaissance artistic patronage, with a 5-year slate of commissions, curated by Bartolemeo Pietromarchi and Maria Alicata. Each year an artist creates limited edition wine bottles and a permanent work in the winery that captures the essence of that particular vintage. The original bottles are then auctioned to benefit the arts, such as the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan, a 19th century collection of Renaissance paintings and decorative arts, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Photo: Courtesy of Ornellaia. Rebecca Horn Sculpture.

Horn’s sculpture for Ornellaia barrique hall, is an extension of her bottle. It “envelopes the space like the arms of an Oriental divinity, while an interplay of mirrors, like watchful eyes, observes the alchemy that guides the wine as it rests.” Glass funnels below the sculpture are filled with wine that as it evaporates, leaves shadowy traces of its passing.

Photo: Courtesy of The Drinks Business. Ornellaia Double Magnum by Michelangelo Pistoletto.

Michelangelo Pistoletto, one of Italy’s most important and influential artists, was commissioned for ‘La Celebrazione’ for Vendemmia d’Artista Ornellaia’s 2010 vintage. This extremely limited and individually-signed and numbered series of large-size bottles includes: 100 Double Magnums (3 litre), 10 Imperials (6 litre) and a unique Salmanazar (9 litre).

Video: Courtesy of Ornellaia.

The 2010 vintage, with its opulent lush flavors and silky texture, is characterized by Pistoletto’s languid spirals of gold, silver and ivory, screen-printed onto the bottles. They were auctioned recently by Sotheby’s, with proceeds donated to the Royal Opera House Foundation.

Photo: Courtesy of The Perfect Cellar. Roots by Etienne Meneau.

Bordeaux based sculptor Etienne Meneau created the Strange Carafes collection, an illustration of “how wine becomes modern”. The roots of the vine are where all wine begins. Here, they are regaled as part of wine’s ultimate, beautiful finish, in a functional art work.

Photo: Courtesy of Artlog. Strange Carafes.

“My work turns around geometry and nature, I love to put some flesh on geometrical shapes… that’s why vegetal life interests me… It is a pure living geometry and algebra (for example the Carafe N°6 is inspired by a branch of fig tree)...” explains Menau. The series includes additional organic shapes, resembling “big hearts”, tree branches, and blood
vessels.

Photo: Courtesy of Amazon. The Cobra Decanter by Riedel.

Renowned 250-year old glassmaker, Reidel, has recently marked the 55th anniversary of the reopening of its headquarters in Kufstein, Austria, following World War II, with a limited edition mouth-blown crystal decanter called the Cobra Verde. Designed to hold the contents of magnum-sized bottles, the decanter stands about 3 feet tall. It features Venetian colored glass in a green ribbon of rippled crystal that winds from its spout down to its coiled base.

More than just a pretty body, its snakelike shape also produces a powerful double-decanting vacuum that is said to accelerate the aeration process for significantly aged or cellared wines.

Photo: Courtesy of Husmoderen. Rainman Decanter by Skruf.

Want to shower your guests with wine love? The new Rain Man Decanter, by Swedish glassmaker, Skruf, is at your service. The wine pours through eight small holes, aerating beautifully as it falls into your glass.

Photo: Courtesy of gSelect. Glass Tank by Kouichi Okamoto.

Refills anyone? If you are truly hedonistic, the Glass Tank drinking vessel by Kouichi Okamoto, is designed to refill your wine glass several times, without you having to lift a finger. The inverted teardrop-shaped reservoir holds plenty of wine, which it continuously deposits into the attached goblet, using combined air and liquid pressure.

Photo: Courtesy of Mr. Kate. The Unspillable Wine Glass.

And if you tend to get a bit tipsy as the evening wears on, you might switch over to the Saturn Glass, designed by Christopher Yamane, of Fragile Studios. Yamane uses ancient Italian glass-blowing techniques to create the ingenius Saturn-esque ring which orbits the glass and prevents it from spilling even when it is tipped over.

Photo: Courtesy of 1st dibs. Nautilus Ice Bucket.

Finally, for your whites and Champagnes, you’ll need a beautiful ice bucket. This vintage nautilus bucket is currently available at 1st Dibs. But hurry. There’s only one.

Read about beautiful Grapes all this week, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science,Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact, including New Books on Grape Glory, New Reasons to Love Grapes, and Perfect New Grapes to Eat & Drink.