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Store Hours: Mon to Wed: 10:30 to 6:30 Thurs & Fri: 10:00 to 8:00 Saturday: 10:00 to 6:00 Sunday: Noon to 6:00 We are located in the cellar of the Historic Alberta Hotel Building 137 - 8th Ave. SW Calgary, AB T2P 1B4 T: 503.0730 F:261.9641 email: info@cellarwinestore.com click for a map You must be 18 years old or over to purchase alcohol and The Cellar can only ship within the Province of Alberta. |
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Art and Wine Confess. You have, on perhaps more than one occasion, walked into your favourite wine shop with every intention of making an informed purchase (being the educated enophile you are, after all), only to find your eyes riveted to a particularly beautiful or whimsical or simply visually stunning label. Suddenly, all thoughts of picking up a bottle of that fabulous Cab you had at Nigel's dinner party last week have fled your cortex and some perfectly stunning bit of art has you smitten. Hmmm.
Could that really be one of Ralph Steadman’s wry and wiry images on that bottle of Bonny Doon Viognier? And what’s that gorgeous golden bit of tile-like glitter on that sumptuous bottle of Rubrato?
A tradition was born, and with the exception of two years, the Rothschild house has commissioned an artist's label annually, increasing the value and status of their wines as collector's items, even in less-than-stellar vintages. The hands of Braque, Dali, Kandinsky, Miro, Chagall, and Warhol have all graced Chateau Mouton-Rothschild bottles. What would art and wine (especially French wine) be without the occasional whiff of scandal, and the resultant censorship of "offensive" art labels in the United States. As recently as 1993, a Balthus sketch of a nude young female on the 1993 Mouton Rothschild label was met with such outrage in the U.S. that Mouton shipped the vintage to the U.S. with a blank label. Several American wineries have had decades-long battles with the label-regulating agency, The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms over artist's labels that depict any sort of nudity.
On left-coast California, Kenwood Winery launched its first artist's label in the 1970s, depicting a reclining woman in the nude, which was promptly rejected by the Bureau. In 1974, another California winery, Clos du Val, chose an image dating from 1624 depicting the three graces, Splendor, Mirth and Good Cheer for its label. Although in a state of undress, the graces passed initial inspection, only to be rejected and accepted three more times over a period of 16 years. Art will always have its critics, but regulating agencies associated with the licensing of wine and spirits have the final say as to what constitutes the socially acceptable standard of art and beauty on a label! So linger shelf-side, and drink in the bounty of beautiful labels offered to wine lovers from all over the world. |
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Leeuwin Art Series Sauvignon Blanc 2000
Madfish Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2000
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