Gold for the 39th edition of Chianti Classico “Vigna Doghessa” 2019 by Casanuova di Nittardi

An ideal toast to a new “golden age” for wine and for Italy as a whole, to be celebrated in the glass, but also in the label and in the packaging: gold, the symbol of wealth, elegance and prosperity, is the hallmark of the artist’s label of Chianti Classico “Vigna Doghessa” 2019 by Casanuova di Nittardi, the estate that once belonged to Michelangelo Buonarroti and the wine and artistic project of the Canali-Femfert family, in its 39th edition. “L’oro di Venezia” (The Gold of Venice) is the title of the label, “The Golden Age” is the title of the silk paper that wraps the label, signed by Fabrizio Plessi, an all-round contemporary artist, known internationally above all for his video installations linked to the passing of time and the primordial and indissoluble relationship between man and the environment, with a particular focus on elements such as water and fire (formerly professor of painting at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Venice, and whose works have been exhibited in the world’s most important museums, from the Centre Pompidou in Paris to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, from the Guggenheim Museum SoHo to the Quirinale).
“Fabrizio Plessi has succeeded in capturing the “preciousness” of Vigna Doghessa”, says Léon Femfert, who leads the estate and continues the family’s art project. “On the label, a golden, moving fluid tells of the changing nature of this vineyard, a soul that has been photographed several times at different times on silk paper to communicate a very precise message: the intention to preserve the beauty of its great expressive range over time”.
Plessi’s latest expression of one of Italy’s longest-running projects linking wine and art. Since 1981, the Canali-Femfert family, gallery owners between Germany and Italy, have been trying to enhance the character of this wine with a tailor-made dress: for each vintage, an artist is invited to create two works, one for the silk paper and one for the label.
All of them are now kept in the winery where, moreover, there are also 45 installations scattered among the vineyards. Among the names of the artists involved over the years are Emilio Tadini, Valerio Adami, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Eduardo Arroyo, Mimmo Paladino, Yoko Ono, Tomi Ungerer, the painter Pierre Alechinsky of the CoBrA Group, Dario Fo, Otto Götz and Hsiao Chin, Mikis Theodorakis, Johannes Heisig and many others. With the classicism of the gold used by Plessi that recalls the character of the 2019 vintage, “which can be described as a great classic vintage, with very promising evolutionary potential. The harsher weather in the first half of the year, with a May that was not too sunny, slightly delayed the vine’s vegetative cycle compared to recent years. The cadence of the times reminded me of the great vintages of the 1980s at Nittardi”, says the producer. “Then a hot but regular summer, without any particular heat peaks or abundant rainfall, was followed by a September characterised by good weather and considerable temperature swings, which allowed the grapes to ripen perfectly. Revealing the 2019 vintage as a true collector’s gem”, he concludes.