Wine: Ornellaia Sets Record Of $122,400 For The Sale Of A Single Bottle Of Italian Wine During An Auction Conducted By Sothebys London

BOGHERI, Italy, May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A total of $364,900 was raised from the sale of eight large format bottles of Ornellaia 2010, customized by artist Michelangelo Pistoletto. This record breaking auction, held May 16^th at the Royal Opera House in London, celebrated 25 years of Ornellaia wine from Bolgheri. The sale of the 9L Salmanazar for $120,400 set a record for the single highest price ever paid for a single bottle of Italian wine at auction.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130523/NY20146)

To celebrate the 25th Anniversary, each and every bottle of Ornellaia 2010 has been decorated with a special logo, silk-screened in gold and ivory. Interpreting the theme of 'La Celebrazione,' Pistoletto created labels for an extremely limited and individually-signed and numbered series of large-size bottles: 100 Double Magnums (3 litre), 10 Imperials (6 litre) and a unique Salmanazar (9 litre).

Ornellaia was the star of a benefit auction that featured 8 of the custom bottles created by Michelangelo Pistoletto for the Vendemmia d'Artista Ornellaia 2010 at a gala dinner at London's Royal Opera House which raised $364,900. During the evening, Stephen Mould, Senior Director and Head of the European Wine Department of Sotheby's, conducted a charity auction of these lots: the one-of-a-kind Salmanazar (9 litres), three Imperials (6 litres), and four Double Magnums (3 litres), all unique Pistoletto art pieces. The total proceeds, amounting to $420,000, were donated to the Royal Opera House Foundation.

"A correlation exists between the cultures of wine and art, between Venus and Bacchus," states Michelangelo Pistoletto. "Neither of them has a practical function, but both are undoubtedly powerful in activating the human spirit. Many artists have found in wine a source of inspiration; it propels the mind towards imagination, fantasy, and towards truth too—in vino is truly veritas. The mirror, in particular, expresses truth and stimulates the imagination. I decided to utilise the mirror for the Ornellaia project, creating its profile through curving, sensuous lines that transgress the traditional square shape of a wine label. I wanted this artwork to be fluid, flexible, dynamic, just like the flowing movement of a thought."

"In order to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ornellaia, we have created exclusively for vintage Ornellaia 2010 a special logo which is silk-screened in gold and ivory on each and every bottle, providing a unique and truly memorable experience," says Giovanni Geddes, CEO of ORNELLAIA. "The Vendemmia d'Artista project aims at re-establishing the tradition and value of Renaissance artistic patronage in a modern key. Every year we commission an internationally renowned artist to produce a work of art and an extremely limited number of special labels that are in themselves works of art, and which capture the essence of the vintage and its personality. In the past four editions of Ornellaia Vendemmia D'Artista we have raised over $1,400,000 through auctions of these special bottles, which have been donated to institutions related to the Arts. For the 2010 edition we have commissioned Michelangelo Pistoletto to celebrate the 25th anniversary."

For further information on about Ornellaia Vendemmia d'Artista 2010, please visit: www.25anni.ornellaia.com.

About Ornellaia: ORNELLAIA's philosophy considers the birth of the wines to be the truest expression of their terroir. The grapes for Ornellaia are selected by hand, and picked in the estate's vineyards in Bolgheri, on the Tuscan coast. The varying natures of the estate's terroirs, marine, alluvial and volcanic, are ideal for the cultivation of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc ad Petit Verdot. The Estate extends over 97 hectares along the Tuscan coast, just a short distance from the medieval hamlet of Bolgheri and the famed cypress-lined avenue 'Viale dei Cipressi'. The constant work of the team and the ideal microclimatic and geological characteristics have led the wines, in just twenty years. -- 1985 was the first vintage of Ornellaia -- to enjoy great international success. In 2001 the 1998 Ornellaia was declared Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator. In 2011 the German 'Der Feinschmecker' assigned Ornellaia its most sought-after award, the 'Weinlegende'.

Ornellaia has received considerable recognition also in the national press, and is consistently ranked among the top estates by the Italian Wine Guides, including Gambero Rosso, Espresso, Veronelli, Duemilavini AIS, and Luca Maroni.

About the artist: Michelangelo Pistoletto, born in Biella in 1933, is internationally recognized as one of the most important and influential artists of the world's artistic community. Since the sixties, Pistoletto achieved international acclaim for his performances, sculptures and installations, in particular for his mirror paintings that include the presence of the viewer in the work. His introduction, in this body of work, of the dimensions of time and space, formed the basis of his subsequent artistic production and theory. Among the most significant protagonists of the Arte Povera movement, Pistoletto pursues from the very beginning a rigorous inquiry about the self portrait, representation and reality. Charismatic personality and promoter of cultural movements, he founded in the nineties Cittadellarte- Fondazione Pistoletto in Biella and the University of Ideas.This project aimed to put art at the centre of our intellectual discourse, with the goal of pursuing a comprehensive transformation of civil society.

SOURCE Ornellaia