Domaine du Météore is launching a range of wines in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
The new collaboration sees Domaine du Météore and the Van Gogh Museum create two organic wines inspired by the world-famous artist, Vincent van Gogh, which capture the essence and beauty of the South of France.
Working with the Van Gogh Museum, Domaine du Météore is launching the wines which represent the link between nature and art, the South of France and Vincent Van Gogh himself. Just as Vincent captured the essence and beauty of these southern landscapes in his paintings, Domaine du Météore has created wines born from the same terroir.
The organic white wine takes its name Sunflowers from the famous sunflower picture painted near Domaine du Météore which is located in Languedoc. The red wine is called Avenue of Poplars in Autumn after the beautiful autumn landscape with tall poplar trees lining the roads, typical of the Languedoc region.
Both the paintings and the Domaine highlight the importance of nature and its influence on artistic and viticultural creations. The Sunflowers white wine is a blend of organic Rousanne and Viognier grapes typical of the region where the Domaine is located. The Avenue of Poplars in Autumn red wine, meanwhile, is a blend of organic Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre grapes.
Van Gogh is considered a pioneer of the impasto technique – the use of thickly textured oil paint and bold brushstrokes for their expressive traits, to draw attention to a certain aspect of the work. The wine bottle labels have been skilfully created to replicate this technique with layered, tactile and eye-catching designs.
“Van Gogh’s paintings and our wines are both the product of the same terroir of Mediterranean garrigue,” commented Simon Frech, Domaine du Météore’s winemaker. “Van Gogh was captivated by the special light that we have in our region; light that makes our grapes grow until perfect maturity. So actually what we try to do when we make Domaine du Météore wines is the same as Van Gogh, demonstrating the beauty of the South of France.”
Domaine du Météore’s co-owner, Dr Paul Jenkins, continued: “Domaine du Météore is honoured to be chosen to work together with the Van Gogh Museum and delighted to launch these wines which we have been working on together for over two years. I like to think that, like the swirling colours in Van Gogh’s masterpieces, our wines embody the essence of artistic expression.
“Just as Van Gogh found inspiration in the beauty of the world around him, we draw inspiration from the unique landscape that surrounds our vineyard. My family has a long-held fondness for his art, with my son painting several oil paintings of our Domaine in his style and using the impasato technique.”
Marijn Veraart, head of licensing at the Van Gogh Museum, added: “Certified organic, working to being fully biodynamic, our collaboration with Domaine du Météore fits in perfectly with our want to be associated with stand out, sustainable and ethically driven partners.
“What makes this even more poignant is that Vincent, when painting in Arles, would have been only 100 miles away in the same latitude as the Domaine – his landscape subject matter therefore very similar to the terrain surrounding the vines themselves delivering great provenance and storytelling. Oh, and they taste superb too.”
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