Sotheby’s Highlights Ornellaia 2015 Wine With Stunning New Kentridge Art

Sotheby’s Highlights Ornellaia 2015 Wine With Stunning New Kentridge Art

Forbes | Tom Mullen

Hard work may blind us to beauty, but the impact fades over time. Renowned South African artist William Kentridge found that the hard slog of a vine harvest woke up his respect for winemaking. Decades later, memories of that event transformed into inspiration for stunning new artwork. Winemaker Axel Heinz, meanwhile, found that memories of a harvest sometimes detracted, even for years, appreciation of that specific vintage.

Kentridge and Heinz—artist and winemaker—spoke last week at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London, when nine lots of Ornellaia—an icon wine from Tuscany in Italy—were auctioned by Sotheby’s Wine. These included imperials (six liters each), double magnums (three liters each) and a Salmanazar (nine liters). The proceeds of £123,000 sterling ($163,500) from the auction were donated to the museum. Located in Bolgheri in Italy, where Tuscan land meets the Tyrrhenian Sea, the  Ornellaia winery is owned by the Frescobaldi family—producers of wine for dozens of generations…read more

Image: Sotheby’s auction of Ornellaia 2015 wine at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, May 2018