Wine & Art
democratic artisan products
The idea behind Not Yet Named Wine Co. would work with the craft of all artisanal products. Wine just happens to be the one I understand. The real concept behind it all is letting curious people help shape that product step-by-step, learning how it’s made, having ownership of the result but mostly just enjoying themselves along the way. I reckon that would work just as well for coffee (for example; origin, roast, processing), chocolate (beans, percentage cacao/milk), cheese (milk type, ageing time, rind style), beer, olive oil… and not just consumables, once I’ve had my dinner and I think without internal bias. I think it can apply to art.
Letting a community vote on those choices and you turn a passive purchase into an education and an experience. People taste more carefully because they helped decide, they see things they wouldn’t have seen before. For the producers gain feedback and loyal customers. And everyone learns how craft actually works in real life.
Sadly, I know very little about coffee, cheese and chocolate and yet I know even less about art. But, necessity is the mother of invention, and every wine needs a label.
Chenin from the blox’
For our 4th vintage with A.A. Badenhorst in South Africa, we had the idea to introduce art into the democratic process. I loved the process with Tom Fry, and even more the final piece. It reminds me of both the wine and the place, and I notice something slightly different each time I sit down and admire it.
Art and history
Art and wine have been intertwined throughout history, so I won’t regurgitate those stories but you cna have a google for Egyptian harvest scenes on tombs and Caravaggio’s Bacchus for example.
From about 1850 onwards, wine and art start to move together in a way that feels modern. With industrialisation and the appearance of glass bottles, introduction of the railways and growth of export markets, labels suddenly became canvases. Champagne houses commissioned illustrators for posters, Rioja and Bordeaux producers began using engraved châteaux and coats-of-arms to signal quality, and lithography meant colour, typography and branding suddenly mattered. By the early 20th century, artists were designing menus, posters and labels as part of a winery’s identity.
When I think of Art on labels I immediately go to Mouton Rothschild. The first commission was in 1924 and then started the long tradition. Picasso, Miró, Warhol and my personal favourite Dali, all lent their talent to turn each bottle into a collector’s piece.I also love the Leeuwin bottles from Western Australia
It was Mouton Rothschild who turned it into an annual ritual. Since 1945, each vintage has featured an original artwork by a leading contemporary artist. What began as a one-off wartime victory label became a tradition that transformed bottles into things of beauty.
The roll call is pretty cool: Picasso, Warhol, Hockney, and in 1958, Salvador Dalí. His contribution was characteristically wacky. Reportedly accepting payment partly in kind, cases of Mouton itself, and produced a label with his unmistakable surreal flourish. It seemed that Dalí, used wine as a symbol of transformation and excess, themes that sat comfortably within his wider body of work.
Leeuwin Estate’s Art Series is one of the most serious long-term marriages of fine art and wine. Since 1980, over 150 major Australian artworks have appeared on its labels.Some works were commissioned specifically for the wines while others were sourced from exhibitions. One artist, Nolan initially refused, saying he didn’t paint for labels but has a couple of the 1982 Cabernet Sauvignon, changed his mind and contributed Dolphin Rock.
New Artists Incoming
That mini-lesson in poorly sourced information was just a set-up for the announcement that we’re putting art on our labels again, following the success of Tom Fry’s masterpiece for the South Africa vintage. We’ll try to intertwine the wine and the art as much as possible, finding innovative ways to get you involved and to tell the story of the wine alongside the art. Each artist will take part in the vintage, voting along to see it first-hand and then putting forward options for subscribers to choose.
I’ll introduce the artists in more detail with each vintage, but we’re going to start with Not Yet Named member Liv Elson, whose art is “expressive and abstract in style, inviting viewers to interpret and respond to the work for themselves”, She’ll be taking on the fabled region of the Langhe in Italy to create something to adorn our Nebbiolo.
3am’s not late, Liv Elson 2025
She did this for my wedding last year, a gift commissioned by our friends. Taking inspiration for a phrase that apeared in the early hours and epitomises Dee N rather well.
Then for Argentina we have Sasha Suvarova aka Baroque Anarchist. She attended one of our events recently, presumably had a ‘Nolan moment’ and approached me about doing a collaboration. It’s incredible that someone of her repute should come to us, but she loved our concept, was inspired by it and wanted to do something. I couldn’t refuse and it’s what got me seriously considering doing this on a consistent basis.
Divine Garden of my Body, Baroque Anarchist, 2023
And on the Lookout for more…
We’ve received a couple of recommendations for artists we could use for labels, and have some irons in the fire. Subscriber suggestions will always be taken seriously!
Letting the artists lead or be led
I feel like I’m switching into the customer here, putting myself in the position of learning from skilled technicians and using this platform to understand what goes on in an artist’s mind; the difficulties they face, the misunderstood techniques, and, of course, the chance to create something real.
I want to be as hands-off as possible, perhaps giving the artists a simple brief: to tell the story of the vintage and the people who make it (including and especially you) and to let you guide them as much as they’re comfortable. I can tell you democracy isn’t easy.
Paula Rego’s O Vinho, 2007
I’ll finish with one of my favourite wine-art stories. Paula Rego was commissioned to design a label for a Portuguese winemaker in the about 20 years ago and scandalised the producer with some boundary-pushing, “naughty” ideas, sparking a clash over artistic freedom. Her satirical, dark-humoured designs reflected a desire to defy authority. I can’t wait for the naughty labels, let’s see how far they can push a Dictator before he is revealed.
Prints and Originals
I was at Willi's Wine Bar just as Sasha first mentioned a collaboration. Passing through Paris, I saw their commissioned posters; each year artists create a piece celebrating the joy of wine, then they sell limited prints.
I’d love to try something similar for Not Yet Named with prints available and auctioning the originals, though as price, print quality, and how each artist wants to present their work all matter, I’ll let them decide.
If you want to be involved, you know what to do! Buy six little pieces of art, help design them democratically, then admire the finished works when they’re ready… with a glug of wine in there too.
