Ornellaia, the Bolgheri-based wine estate, has continued its long-running Vendemmia d'Artista project with a 2023 vintage interpretation titled 'La Vitalità.' For this expression, the company tapped renowned contemporary artist Marina Abramović to create original artwork that appears on limited-edition large-format bottles, as well as on the Salmanazar, Imperials, and three-litre bottles.
Abramović chose to portray herself as a reinterpreted Medusa, where traditional snakes are replaced by grape bunches that transform menace into abundance and fear into life-giving energy. The different bottle sizes feature evolving visual representations from simple line drawings to photographic images where the artist's face becomes progressively obscured by cascading grapes until only one eye remains visible. The nine-litre Salmanazar bottle offers an especially immersive experience, topped with a conical red candle inspired by Abramović's Energy Hat artwork. It is accompanied by a 45 RPM vinyl record featuring music by Nino Rota from the film La Dolce Vita.
Image Credit: Ornellaia
What's Driving This Trend
- Artist-collaborative Packaging
- Limited-edition packaging shaped by renowned artists turns consumer goods into collectible cultural objects with premium pricing potential.
- Multisensory Luxury Bottles
- Candle toppers, vinyl soundtracks, and evolving visual treatments expand wine presentation into immersive ownership experiences beyond taste alone.
- Collectible Vintage Storytelling
- Narrative-driven releases tied to specific harvests create scarcity, emotional resonance, and secondary-market appeal for luxury beverage brands.
Who This Affects Most
- Fine Wine
- Prestige wineries are blending oenology with contemporary art to differentiate vintages and deepen collector engagement.
- Luxury Packaging
- High-concept bottle formats and artist-designed labels signal new demand for packaging that functions as both container and artwork.
- Contemporary Art
- Crossovers with premium consumer brands give artists new commercial canvases while expanding cultural relevance into hospitality and gifting markets.
