Wine and Horses
Gao Xiang, The Dreams, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 61 x 46cm, private collection
About art, wine, and horses, or love at first sight.
There is something special about horses. To Gao Xiang, the horse is a complex force that holds the mysteries of the universe and Chinese traditions and is also a symbolic extension of his soul. He captures the horse in full gallop or bridging the earth and the stars, often using ancient Chinese astronomy charts for inspiration.
There is also something special about wine, especially Ca’ del Baio wine. I met the remarkable Grasso family - whose roots in the winery date back to 1870 - in 2012, after their Barbaresco launched my taste buds into the stratosphere and renewed my faith in life one fine evening at a party in Italy’s magical Piemonte wine region.
13 years and many fine vintages of Ca’ del Baio later, my initial contact with this warm and welcoming family - whose winery literally means House of the Bay Horse and is always populated by animals of all sorts - has grown into a friendship. It was thus especially profound when Valentina Grasso, who together with her sisters Paola and Federica and their parents Guilio and Luciana are continuing to grow Ca’ del Baio into the extraordinary Barbaresco-area vineyard it has become - not only bought Gao Xiang’s The Dreams but chose the painting as a label for their newly launched limited edition Langhe Chardonnay Valentìne, made with 38-year-old vines.
The Grasso family of Ca’ del Baio in Treiso, Piemonte’s Barbaresco region
As Valentina, the architect behind Chardonnay Valentine, wrote of The Dreams on the back of the label, “I am particularly fond of this work, in which the art of an oneiric lover of contrasts is expressed through the force and mystery of the horse in conjunction with the constellations, creating an emanation of timeless peace and hope.” To this end, I would also like to share with you a poem that Valentina cited upon acquiring The Dreams.
Standing beside you
I gaze into myself
A rock to grasp onto
Nowhere else
I find my comfort and peace
Where darkness disappears
And stars brighten
And mystery fades away
Was it serendipity or fate
Enjoy the ride and the day
For queries, please email me at katrine@katrinelevin.com or DM me on FB/IG.
For Gao Xiang’s bio and other works, click here
For the Ca’ del Baio winery: https://www.cadelbaio.com
COOL FACT
Ca’ Del Baio Langhe Chardonnay Valentine 2020 is made with 38-year-old vines with a north-west exposure on a white soil rich in limestone, in Italy’s UNESCO heritage Barbaresco region. The aging was done in three “neutral” tonneaux (500 liters) so that the wood does not prevail over the wine.
Valentina’s inspiration for this wine came from working in Burgundy in 2013 and learning the winemaking techniques and protocols that she saw during that time. The 2020 vintage still requires some time before being drunk but if you decide to open a bottle, taste it from 12 degrees Celsius and not too cold.
(Image: Valentina with the Chardonnay Valentine)