Tag Archives: Lamberto Frescobaldi

Pascale Marthine Tayou interprets the character of Ornellaia 2022 “La Determinazione”

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From June 12 to 24, 2025, storied auction house Bonhams will hold an online auction of large-format Vendemmia d’Artista 2022 “La Determinazione” bottles. Ornellaia has pledge its proceeds to support the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation to restore artworks for upcoming exhibition.

Internationally renowned Cameroonian artist Pascale Marthine Tayou was chosen to interpret the vintage character, “La Determinazione” (Determination), of Ornellaia 2022 for the 17th edition of the Vendemmia d’Artista project.

With the labels designed by Pascal Marthine Tayou to celebrate Ornellaia 2022 “La Determinazione”, the artist remains faithful to his practice that is intrinsically linked with the materiality of colour and the joy of living. His oeuvre stands out for its diversity, unrestricted by a single medium or a particular set of themes. For Ornellaia 2022 “La Determinazione”, the artist focused on the life cycle of the plant, starting with the seed, its germination and resilience in adapting to the climate in order to flower and bear fruit.

For the 750ml label, the artist created a design based on concentric circles formed by a series of signs of different colors. They represent the energy generated by the union of many individual elements when they form a single whole.

For the Double Magnums, Pascal Marthine Tayou took a photograph that depicts a plant growing in a desert area, emerging through the cracks in the soil. Each label is unique, like a sequence that shows the various stages of the plant as it manages to sprout with determination. Meanwhile, the 10 Imperials (6 litre) and the sole Salmanazar (9 litre) become sculptures in their own right with textile artworks reclaimed from recycled materials forming uniquely crafted colorful patchwork cases.

As Pascale Marthine Tayou explains, “I went looking for things deep inside myself that could be in line with the idea of a plant’s lifecycle. For example, I came across a plant that had grown on a stone and had succeeded in flowering. In a way, it became a symbol of what I wanted to express in my research.” He continues: “You have people who live and work together and aim to shape the world in their own way. That’s where I saw the most fundamental meaning: the courage to reach your goals. That’s where wine plays a part, bringing special music to the phenomenon of binding people together. For me, determination is a form of commitment and courage. It could even be related to resilience and resistance. Artistically, I was in a determined mental state, so I used materials and a technique that would push me to focus on their repetition as I was seeking some kind of poetry. I wanted to consider determination from the point of view of the relationship between humans and nature, and the environment in its broadest sense.”  

“It moved me to see the way in which Pascal Marthine Tayou had interpreted the vintage character La Determinazione,” remarks Lamberto Frescobaldi, President of the group. “His art demonstrates how courage and resilience always bring joy within reach. His vision remains close to the wine world where the ties between humans and nature form the basis of everything we do.”

Fourteen rare lots, including the Imperials and the sole Salmanazar, hand-signed by Pascale Marthine Tayou will be sold by Bonhams, one of the world’s oldest privately owned auctioneers. The online auction will be held at www.bonhams.com/ornellaia between June 12 to 24, 2025 and will close at 7pm GMT.

In a continuation of the existing seven-year partnership, Ornellaia has pledged its proceeds to support the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation for the upcoming exhibition titled Collection in Focus|Modern European Currents, at Guggenheim New York opening July 2025. The funds are intended to assist with the conservation treatment and in-depth analysis of select collection works included in the upcoming Guggenheim exhibition.

La Generosità (Generosity), the essence of Ornellaia 2021

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A delicately balanced light-filled interpretation of the sun and sea, translating the land that gives everything to its vines.

The mild climate and rainfall of early-mid 2021 allowed for adequate water reserves to build in the lands of the Ornellaia estate. Precious water returned to the vines during the hot summer months that had almost no precipitation.

“It’s precisely the generosity of our soils, together with the meticulous work of the team in the vineyard, that has led to a harvest of healthy grapes with great qualitative potential,” stated Lamberto Frescobaldi, President of Marchesi Frescobaldi. “To reflect this giving land, La Generosità (in english Generosity) is the character chosen to reflect the essence of Ornellaia 2021”.

Marco Balsimelli, Production Director at Ornellaia, detects the essence of the vintage in the glass: “Ornellaia 2021 is a very expressive and complex wine. With hints of Mediterranean scrub, juniper berries, and with classic aromas of blackcurrant, there’s a notable density and a fleshy tannic texture that fills the palate with precision, length and flavour.”

Cuvée of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this Bolgheri Rosso Superiore DOC translates the essence of the vineyard parcels it comes from, but it does so with its own personality. In tune with the trait of this year, Ornellaia 2021 embraces tasters with magnificent sensations. Persistent and vibrant, it brings with it an aromatic freshness and elegance that makes it irresistible for enthusiasts and collectors.

The renowned Italian artist Marinella Senatore was invited to interpret the character “La Generosità” (Generosity) for the Vendemmia d’Artista project, choosing to portray the theme through the medium of collage.

Ornellaia 2021 debuts on the market on 1st of April, with every case of six bottles of the vintage (0.75 l bottles) enhanced by one artistic label.

WINE: GAS CRISIS ALSO FREEZES ITALIAN WINE, COST SURPLUS AT 1.5 BILLION EURO

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UIV-VINITALY Observatory: market holds (for now), but does not compensate for cost escalation


It is a gap of almost 1.5 billion euro that caused by gas and energy on Italian wine. Even one of the healthiest Made in Italy sectors is forced to raise the alarm, and now the main fear is that the escalation in costs will be compounded by a crisis in consumption, in Italy and worldwide. According to the UIV-Vinitaly Observatory survey carried out last week on companies in Italy, the surplus of energy costs alone (+425 million euros) and, consequently, of dry raw materials (over 1 billion more for glass, paper, cardboard, caps, aluminium) are worth an 83% increase on the budgets at the beginning of 2022. In addition to these, other increasing items (bulk wine, commercial costs, workforce) lead to a 28% increase in total costs this year. The result, according to the survey of a panel representing 30% of the market, has the flavour of a mockery for the sector.

The increase in list prices estimated by the Observatory in the first nine months of this year is in fact 6.6%, a positive figure but insufficient to cover an upward variation in prices that companies have requested in the order of 11%. The equivalent gap is equal to EUR 600 million in costs not covered by revenues that Italian wine is forced to bear in order to stay on the market. The ones losing out the most are the supply chain companies, the largest cluster – but with the least bargaining power – made up mostly of small businesses that produce, vinify and bottle everything, or almost everything, in-house. But, with some exceptions, the wine industrialists and the world of cooperation are also suffering due to a dynamic that particularly penalizes the basic and popular segments of the offer, starting with medium-priced sparkling wines. The impact on the premium segment is different, not only because it is better able to absorb variations but also by virtue of a market that is more willing to accept requests for price increases.

For the president of the Italian Wine Union (UIV), Lamberto Frescobaldi: ‘The survey shows how the current crisis does not spare our sector, which is not energy-intensive but in many of its components suffers direct consequences. What we can do now is to consolidate with a supply chain pact all the dynamics that can produce a buffer effect to guarantee competitiveness and the market. Producers, industrialists, cooperatives and distributors will therefore have to absorb part of the increases so as not to dump them completely on consumers and avoid a dangerous depression of consumption’.

 For the CEO of VeronaFiere, Maurizio Danese, “We consider it a duty for Vinitaly to monitor the dynamics of the sector, all the more so in a delicate moment such as this. What is happening also has a strong impact on wine, but we are aware that today’s events, like those of 2 years ago, represent exogenous and non-structuring factors affecting a sector that is in any case healthy. At the next wine2wine, scheduled for 7-8 November, we will present, together with UIV, the second part of this economic study, also with this year’s complete forecast estimates for the market, profitability, and balance sheet of the Italian wine industry”.

www.osservatoriodelvino.it