Ornellaia auctions latest artistic tie-in

Super Tuscan estate Ornellaia has raised CAD$126,500 (£69,000) through its annual charitable auction of large format bottles from the producer’s Vendemmia d’Artista series.

The auction was conducted by Sotheby’s in Toronto at the Art Gallery of Ontario, which is also the recipient of the money raised through this event. Since launching its Vendemmia d’Artista programme in 2009, Ornellaia has now collected a total of more than one million euros for a variety of artistic institutions, including last year’s beneficiary, the Royal Opera House in London.

For its sixth collaboration, the estate chose Canadian artist Rodney Graham to interpret this year’s theme of “I’Infinito” on its 2011 vintage. He created 11 different labels, each displaying a poem related to wine. Of the 111 large format bottles featuring Graham’s work, eight were chosen to feature in last week’s auction.

The idea behind this Vendemmia d’Artista series is to revive ”in a modern key” the Renaissance model of artistic commissions.

When it announced this latest collaboration earlier this year, Ornellaia highlighted the healthy return on investment offered by Italian wine in recent years, hailing its performance as “more solid” than gold or oil.