Latest Ornellaia collection sells for US$312,000

The latest auction of Super Tuscan Ornellaia’s ‘Vendemmia d’Artista’ collection raised US$312,000 for charity last week.

Held last Friday by Sotheby’s, the sale raised funds for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation’s ‘Mind’s Eye’ programme which helped blind and visually impaired people to enjoy and experience artwork.

Ornellaia’s CEO, Giovanni Geddes da Filicaja said: “The appreciation of great wines, as well as the enjoyment of art, requires the involvement of all the senses, and that’s why we decided to support a high-value project like ‘Mind’s Eye’.

“In so doing, we are able to help adults with disabilities to experience art by means of activities which, through the use of the senses, provide a model of access to art that can be implemented worldwide and a legacy for future generations”.

Richard Armstrong, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, added: “The founding mission of the Guggenheim has been to collect and exhibit art that was not simply modern, not just new, but revolutionary. Thanks to Ornellaia, we are able involve an even wider public in this mission”. 

This year’s Vendemmia collection featured labels designed by Shirin Neshat, who drew her inspiration from the Persian poet Omar Khayyam’s hymns to wine.

A bottle with a bespoke label is then included in every case of that vintage’s Ornellaia (2016 in this instance), while larger formats – 100 Jeroboams, 10 Imperials and one Salmanazar – are then sold in a special auction with the proceeds donated to a charitable cause.