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Vineyards have become showcases not only for the viticulturist’s<br />
art but also for museum-quality artworks and exhibitions that are<br />
increasingly taking center stage. // By Brian Noone<br />
ART OPENINGS ARE INCOMPLETE without wine: It stimulates<br />
conversation, of course, but the slow pleasures of sipping are<br />
also a good match for the equally slow pleasures of reflecting on<br />
a painting or a sculpture. You can’t—or at least you shouldn’t—<br />
rush a glass of good wine any more than you hurry through an<br />
interesting art exhibition. Not if your palate is sufficiently refined.<br />
Museums have long understood this connection as well. It’s why<br />
the wonderfully muralled restaurant at Tate Britain in London has<br />
one of the city’s best wine lists, and why Odette, the three-Michelinstarred<br />
dining destination at the National Gallery of Singapore, has<br />
some 700 varieties in its cellar. Connoisseurs rarely appreciate just<br />
one aspect of the world—and the opportunity to mix several sublime<br />
things with each other is what makes for truly memorable occasions.<br />
So there is an elegant simplicity about reversing the norm and<br />
bringing art to the vineyards instead. Increasingly, this is just what<br />
viticulturists around the globe are doing, turning the geometric<br />
beauty of their repeating rows of vines into a stunning backdrop<br />
for artworks of distinction—pieces that might otherwise be<br />
found in an urban museum and are drawing culture vultures to<br />
the countryside for a truly slow experience, of both art and wine.<br />
ROBERT BERG<br />
NetJets<br />
37
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