Art and Wine 2022: Right Bank

When Bordeaux estates launch artistic endeavors, they nearly always seek some sort of
resonance with the château—typically with its owners, its history or its values. Nowhere is that resonance more explicit than at Château de Ferrand.

Established in 1702, Ferrand has changed hands only once. That was in 1978, when it was purchased by Baron Bich, founder of Bic pens. The Baron passed away in 1994, and since 2005 Ferrand has been run by his daughter Pauline and her husband, Philippe Chandon-Moët. When they took the reins, the couple’s ambition was to move the estate into the future while preserving its illustrious past.

As at many other châteaux, modernization efforts began in the vineyard followed by updates to winemaking facilities and cellars. These investments soon paid off; in 2012 Ferrand attained the coveted status of grand cru classé. The owners then embarked on a massive transformation of château, calling upon the talents of Patrick Jouin, one of France’s most celebrated designers, and his partner, architect Sanjit Manku.

In 2019, Ferrand re-opened its doors, welcoming visitors with custom-made interiors and furnishings that featured natural materials and clean lines. Fresh understated elegance became the hallmark of guest rooms, reception areas and tasting rooms, with artful and amusing tributes to the Baron sprinkled throughout.

Shortly after entering, visitors can’t help but smile when they see “Capuchon Mordu” (2021), a nine-foot-tall Bic pen top that appears to have been chewed on by its young owner. For sculptor Julien Gudéa, it was a fond homage to his elementary-school days.

In the tasting room, guests can admire the exquisitely detailed mural depicting the landscapes surrounding the château. The work of artist Alexandre Doucin, the 670-square-foot monochrome fresco required eight Bic fine-point pens and seven months of work. And hanging from the gallery ceiling is a metal sculpture from Belgian artist Michel François’s “Scribble” series (2011). “Scribble” transposes doodles made with Bic ballpoints into three-dimensional works made of copper tubes painted with ink extracted from hundreds of Bic pens.

Since their introduction in 1950, Bic products have inspired these and innumerable other international artists to create drawings, sculptures and installations, prompting the company and the Baron’s family to progressively acquire 250 such works. The resulting Bic Contemporary Art Collection, which participates in art exhibitions and competitions, has indefinitely loaned some 30 pieces to the château for the delightful “Bic Art à Ferrand” experience.

When Hong Kong businessman Peter Kwok bought his first Bordeaux estate in 1997, he was much less motivated by vineyard ownership than by a desire to expose his children to French culture. While growing up in Vietnam, he became enamored of the French influences in that country, an affection that has continued to this day.

Kwok claims that he knew little about the wine business at the time, but he proved to be a quick study—today his Vignobles K company owns seven Right Bank Bordeaux châteaux. Among them is Saint-Emilion grand cru classé Bellefont-Belcier, which he acquired in 2017.

Kwok immediately set about renovating the property, primping the 18^th-century château for its star turn as a leading actor on the wine tourism stage. Given Kwok’s reputation as a connoisseur and collector of Chinese art, it was only natural that contemporary art would play a supporting role.

Among the outstanding pieces on permanent display is “Reach Up to the Universe, Dotted Pumpkin” (2010) by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. The six-foot-tall aluminum sculpture incorporates the pumpkins, dots and reflective surfaces that have become Kusama’s signature leitmotifs. Another work is from Ju Ming’s “Tachi” series; the artist used a chain saw and knives to carve human-sized wooden figures striking classic martial arts poses.

On May 7, 2022, painter Bruno Marchais will be given pride of place with an exhibition of oils from two of his series, “Coeur des Villes” and “Carole.” The former, displayed in the vat room, incorporates electrocardiograms into European cityscapes, suggesting the beating heart of these metropolises. The graph continues on the wall between paintings, suggesting the ways these places and their residents are connected.

Marchais’s colorful geometry is also present in “Carole,” a series that will be hung in the entrance hall, reception rooms and guest rooms. Inspired by a 1970s song celebrating a woman for her femininity, confidence and daring, the paintings present her in imaginary settings that hint at these seductive qualities.

Since arriving at Château Laroque in 2015, Director David Suire has wowed critics with wines that some say are the best in the history of the estate. Suire credits the improvement to a better understanding the variations in Laroque’s terroir, a necessary underpinning to making the most of every parcel. One of the first things he did when took the reins of Saint-Emilion’s largest estate was to commission a soil study of all 61 hectares.

Terroir was also foremost in his thoughts when he revamped the estate’s art program, replacing occasional exhibits with a structured program of artists in residence. “Wine is a reflection of a place, a landscape, which in turn is the cohabitation of nature and man,” he says. “We ask the artists to express this landscape, just as the wine does.”

Recent residents include French multidisciplinary artist Marie Bathellier. “The day she arrived, we took her around the property, we wanted to show her how it varies visually and sensorially from one area to another,” says Suire.

Bathellier took this information and ran with it, collecting herbs from different parts of the estate and using them to create pigments. Laroque is dramatically situated high on a limestone plateau, and she made white pigment from the limestone as well. Leaves were used as paintbrushes, grasses dipped in color were pressed onto canvases, vines were twisted into graceful sculptures.

The same inspiration that infused Bathellier’s abstract work led fellow resident Myoung Ho Lee in a very different direction. The Korean photographer stretched large blank canvases behind trees on the property before photographing them, effectively “framing” the trees within the landscape. In a fun twist, he photographed a large Bordeaux-colored square canvas in front of the château—his way of placing the wine in the landscape from which it emanated. The image appeared on limited-edition, signed bottles of Laroque that were sold in galleries and museums.

The cost of land being what it is in Bordeaux, individuals who buy estates typically do so only after succeeding at other professions. This was the case of Jean-François Quenin, who with his wife, Dominique, purchased Pressac in 1997 following a career in home electronics. At the age of 48, he tackled his new calling with enthusiasm and determination to improve the quality of the estate’s wine.

Like others who have acquired properties that were not living up to their potential, the Quenins started by making vast improvements in the vineyards (99 percent of the vines have been replanted), then moved on to renovating the winemaking facilities. Finally, they turned their attention to the château, famous for being the site where treaties ending the Hundred Years War were signed in 1453. Set atop a limestone plateau, it offers fabulous views of the Saint-Emilion landscape.

In recent years, the Quenins have opened their historic property to visitors, offering tours and tastings, hosting music concerts and embellishing the estate with a number of works of art. Each has a personal story. While visiting friends in Nîmes, for example, they discovered Michel Wohlfahrt, a ceramicist turned sculptor. “We were immediately taken by his work and purchased “Man of the Desert,” which we installed on the terrace,” says Quenin. “But he looked a bit lonely, so we purchased Wohlfahrt’s “Gypsy” to keep him company. Now they both look out on the valley!”

After renovating the cellar, the Quenins began searching for a large sculpture to place out front. They wanted something in Corten steel and finally decided on French-Canadian artist Vincent, whose monumental sculptures can be found in private and public collections around the world. “He asked me which of his works I especially liked, and I mentioned a statue of a woman. When he found out how my wife and I work as a team here, he created an abstract sculpture representing the two of us. We call it ‘Les Passionnés.’”

The couple also owns five paintings by Serge Labégorre, an important painter of French contemporary expressionism who lives in the Bordeaux region. “The work that we initially wanted wasn’t available, but the artist allowed us to make a copy, which we hung in the barrel cellar. We later became friends, and I have since bought five of his canvases.

Copies of these are also displayed in the cellar, and the originals hang in the château along with works by other contemporary talents. “Our acquisitions are guided by our emotions,” says Quenin. “We only buy art we fall in love with.”

In 2013, Claire Moueix and Cyril Basteau took the reins at Taillefer, becoming the fifth generation to helm the property purchased by Antoine Moueix in 1923. The couple recently came up with plans to open the estate to wine tourism, but that has been complicated by the pandemic. They have nonetheless begun offering wine tastings and are looking forward to launching workshops and private events in their elegant 18^th-century château.

Contemporary art is also part of the plan. Moueix and Basteau have long been art enthusiasts, avidly visiting museums and galleries whenever they travel. In 2019, they hosted an exhibition of works by Bordeaux artist Sylvie Basteau, and they have invited her back again this year to inaugurate what they hope will be the first of annual art shows.

The 2022 exhibition, which opened April 6, focuses on the artist’s most recent paintings. Basteau is best known for compositions that feature shapes that seem to float against a foggy grey background, creating an ethereal, dreamlike atmosphere conducive to calm introspection. At Taillefer, the impression is amplified by the setting: paintings are hung on the limestone walls of the barrel cellar, next to the quietly aging wines.

The show was organized by Anne-Marie Marquette, whose Bordeaux gallery Le Troisième Oeil represents the artist.

“She did a terrific job,” says Moueix. “These sorts of exhibitions are not easy to mount, and we hope to continue our partnership. I would love to show Jean-Yves Gosti’s steel and marble sculptures or Serge Labégorre’s paintings. We’ll see!”

Red was big in 2012. On one side of the pond, Taylor Swift released “Red,” the only Triple Platinum album of the year. On the other side, starchitect Jean Nouvel was making the color the dominant element of his design for the new cellars at Château La Dominique in Saint-Emilion.

Breaking with tradition, Nouvel did not take his architectural cues from the existing 18^th-century buildings, opting instead to create two long walls made of horizontal stainless-steel slats in various shades of red mimicking the colors of wine. Sleek and chic, the walls pop out from the surrounding vineyards—the very opposite of legendary Bordeaux discretion. Above, a rooftop restaurant opens onto an expansive terrace with classic Bordeaux gravel—dyed various tones of red.

When La Dominique launched contemporary art shows in 2018, the theme they selected was naturally a take on their now-signature hue: “City Red, Forest Red.” On loan from regional art institutions, works by 18 internationally acclaimed artists were mounted along a 140-foot-long display structure set up in the vat room, which is not in use during the summer months.

The concept proved so successful that a variation on the theme was presented in 2019: The works in “Red, The Colour of Political Commitment” were selected for their power to provoke reflection on such subjects as the desire for change as well as the courage and willingness to act, individually and collectively.

The pandemic has interrupted the estate’s exhibition calendar, but plans are currently being made for Summer 2023.

Pascal and Véronique Bourrigaud are eighth-generation owners of Château Champion, which has been in their family since the 18^th century. Perhaps because of this heritage, the estate’s tourism offerings are intimate and convivial, from picnic lunches with red-checkered tablecloths and wicker baskets to Tiny House lodgings in the vineyard to guided tours led by Véronique herself.

The estate’s art exhibitions similarly have a very personal touch. For the past 10 years, the Bourrigauds have shown local artists, many of whom are friends or professional acquaintances. Their first exhibition featured works by an artist who was also their tenant, and this year they are showcasing paintings by Nadine Poulhazan—who also happens to be their consulting winemaker. Poulhazan, who has been drawing for as long as she can remember, has a particular affinity for landscapes and nature in general.

“For me, the personal relationship with the artist is very important, more important than their notoriety,” says Véronique. “After all, I’m the one who gives the tours, and it’s easier for me to talk about artists I know!”

Haut-Chaigneau’s first art commissions were frescoes by Michel Boisseau, whose work also adorns Fieuzal, Haut Brion, Pape Clément and other Bordeaux estates. At Haut-Chaigneau, Boisseau’s murals of statues and flower-filled urns complement the Greco-Roman style of the winery built in 1989 by owners Jeanine and André Chatonnet. Both have since passed away, and the estate is now run by their son, Pascal.

The family was an early adopter when it came to wine tourism, adding guest rooms back in 2010. Visitors who come for the day or to stay the night are surrounded by art from many periods, all of it a celebration of the vine. Along with Arcimboldo and Caravaggio reproductions, there are contemporary works by such artists as Didier Michel, renowned for his dramatically colored cork sculptures and his explorations of the confluence of color, scent and taste.

Bordeaux artist Florence Chastenet is also represented, with stylized paintings of bottles and grapes. A radically different aesthetic is evident in the 20 x 6-foot mural by Didier Triglia, known for his deliriously joyful scenes of boldly colored, cartoon-like people and animals as well as his penchant for incorporating recycled materials into his art. In this lively bacchanalia, grinning figures stomp grapes; a bottle with face, arms and legs dances merrily; and wine glasses are, well, everywhere.

For the past decade, Pascal Chatonnet has also organized temporary exhibitions, including the popular 2017 show of photographs by Denis Bergamelli. The artist, who was invited to spend several days at the château, went out to the vineyards every morning at dawn to photograph old vines in winter. The result was “Le Peuple des Vignes,” black-and-white images of twisted and bent trunks that suggest gnomes, trolls, elves and fairies.

At this writing, plans for 2022 have not yet been finalised.

Owner Alain Château (yes, a name destined for the wine business) was an industrialist before purchasing Yon-Figeac in 2005. He has commissioned but one artwork for the property, a fact that perhaps adds to its impact.

As visitors arrive at the entrance, they are greeted by two very large bright pink sculptures set atop the gate posts. To the left is a two-dimensional woman resembling a paper cut-out; she is holding up the sun in one hand. To the right is a man, holding up the rain clouds. These simple figures suggest the complex balance of nature and human intervention that go into crafting wine.

Created by Cécile Pitois, the work displays the French artist’s signature humor and thoughtfulness. Her vast body of work includes photography, video and installations, but she is especially known for her public art pieces in cities throughout the world, in particular her “Wishing Well” series that encourages residents to revive the old practice of making a wish at the local well.

In 1931, amidst the Great Depression, six St-Emilion winegrowers got together to form a cooperative that would allow them to share winemaking facilities. Nearly a century later, the Union de Producteurs de Saint-Emilion (UDPSE) vinifies 12 percent of AOC St-Emilion wines and prides itself on its continued efforts to improve quality through new practices and technologies.

The UDPSE has long devoted considerable resources to public education and has welcomed visitors for decades. To emphasise the skill involved in the winemaking process, it has adopted the slogan “Métier d’Art, Vigneron” and built an expansive art gallery to underscore that association. Open year round, it hosts exhibitions that change monthly. Most artists are from southwestern France, although some are from other areas of the country or from abroad.