Article about my artwork on Campo Viejo harvest:
LEADING RIOJA WINERY SAYS “CHEERS” TO 15 YEARS OF INNOVATIVE WINEMAKING
Guests from around the world gathered in Rioja this week to celebrate the start of the 2016 harvest at Campo Viejo, and to toast the 15th anniversary of the brand’s state-of-the-art winery. Since its opening in 2001, the award-winning winery has transformed Rioja winemaking and made Campo Viejo the world’s number one Rioja wine brand.
Despite the unusually warm, dry growing season, the harvest commencement, and its accompanying celebration, took place in mid-September, in line with the historical average start time for Rioja winemaking. Fruit is exhibiting the concentrated flavours and aromas, and mature tannins that allow the winemakers to craft exceptional quality red wine, as well as the new varietals such as Tempranillo Blanco.
Elena Adell, Chief Winemaker at Campo Viejo, says “We enjoyed all of the conditions required for a great vintage, so we expect the 2016 to be excellent in terms of quality. We are anticipating some outstanding red wines this vintage and are also very excited to see what these vintage conditions do to the new white grape varietals we can now experiment with in Rioja.”
The harvest celebration encouraged guests to explore the similarities between winemaking and art. Elena began crafting wines for the 2016 vintage while Slovenian artist Dreja Novak, a finalist in the recent Campo Viejo Talenthouse collaboration, created a bespoke painting that reflects the vibrancy, skill and colour of the Campo Viejo home and its team. This artwork will be displayed in the winery’s Visitors Centre.
Artist Dreja Novak said: “Being surrounded by the vibrant vineyards at Campo Viejo gave me so much inspiration, and it’s amazing to see how winemaking has so much in common with creating a piece of art. The process involved in what I do requires planning, experimentation, skill and most importantly, passion – and you can definitely draw parallels with this and Campo Viejo’s attitude to winemaking.”
Campo Viejo’s Chief Winemaker Elena Adell said: “At Campo Viejo, we express ourselves through our wines in the same way an artist expresses themselves through their work. Winemaking is truly an art form; both artist and winemaker start with a blank canvas and through extensive craftsmanship, experimentation and dedication, masterpieces are created. It was great to see art and winemaking come together before us and what better way to celebrate the start of a new harvest and 15 years of our winery?”
The first wines from the 2016 vintage are expected to be available from March 2017.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-p73E-9dxw
