Global wine culture is the dripping, whirling, beating heart of the “How Wine Became Modern” sensory exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). It has attracted a classy following of wine lovers from around the world. The exhibition is the first of its kind and brings together various mediums and art forms – graphic and industrial design, architecture, performing arts, visual arts and film – in a mind-blowing celebration of the overlap between art, culture and wine. Each exhibit illustrates how viticulture, winemaking, and wine tasting have inspired artistic creations across cultures and countries.

Here are some thoughts on my favorite “samples” from the exhibit:

• In [ ] Veritas by Peter Wagner. This 70 foot long mural is a mind map made up of 200 different colors and terms related to wine. Linguistics lovers will enjoy this playful representation of the ever-evolving terminology around wine. As the circle of international wine connoisseurs continues to expand, the words used to describe wine change to accommodate a broader range of taste buds and cultural references.
• the judgment of paris The exhibition includes a life-size mural depicting the (in)famous Paris tasting of 1976 while evoking Da Vinci’s Last Supper. It would seem that the French judges resemble Jesus in this analogy, and therefore the British journalist Stephen Spurrier would be Judas. If you’ve seen the movie “Bottle Shock,” you know about the 1976 betrayal, when Stephen Spurrier slipped some California wildcards into a blind tasting of French Bordeaux and Burgundy wines. Much to the chagrin of French wine connoisseurs, many of the California wines outperformed the Bordeaux Grand Cru Classés and Burgundy whites. When Château Montelena Chardonnay 1973 and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars’ 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon were declared winners, chaos broke out. In addition to the striking mural, the two original bottles of the tasting are on display.
• terroir. This installation combines soil samples from 17 vineyards in famous wine-growing countries such as Germany, South Africa, Spain, France, Chile, Argentina and California. Wine geeks, geologists, and linguists alike can enjoy this exploration of world-famous terroirs, collecting information about their different climates, moisture and soil structures, the etymology and translations of their place names, and quotes from winemakers about the somewhat abstract notion of “terroir”. “.
• Precision Viticulture. This Diller Scofidio + Renfro screening highlights a technique the Napa icon Opus One has used to track the evolution of his vines and map their growth and disease. Opus One combines multispectral aerial photography with remote sensing technology to keep a maternal eye on each individual vine in its prized vineyards. This projection is viewed against a white film on the gallery floor. The mosaic of multicolored vineyard plots is as beautiful as it is mind-boggling, an expression of “science meets quilting” or perhaps “infrared landscape painting.” It is not surprising that Opus One wine is among the highest quality in the world.
• LabelWall. For lovers of graphic art, this is a delightful display of more than 200 bottles exploring common themes for wine labels around the world, such as “good and bad,” animals, “woman,” the weather (not It’s amazing how many California wineries include “fog” on their labels), humor, science, and understated or minimalist artistic renderings. Famous French estate Mouton Rothschild takes center stage with its series of art labels, each designed by a famous artist commissioned by Baron Philippe and later by the Philippine Baron de Rothschild. Picasso, Miro, Chagall, Kandinsky, Warhol, Motherwell and recently Charles, Prince of Wales, are some of the privileged artists who have designed for Mouton since the establishment of this tradition in 1924. A lesser known fact is that each featured artist receives a box of the precious vintage Premier Grand Cru Classé for which they created the label. Also on display is an autographed first vintage Opus One label, emblazoned with the signatures of Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild. This is quite collectible.
• Crafty Garrafes by Riedel and Strange Garrafes by Etienne Meneau. These decanters can be difficult to handle, but their charm is plain to see. Containers for storing and serving wine have been a source of inspiration since the dawn of winemaking. Whether ceramic jars, crystal classes, jeroboam glass bottles or earthenware bowls, wine has traditionally been honored with beautiful vessels. These decanters speak of the pleasure of aerating wine and the visual foreplay that precedes wine tasting. Connoisseurs speak of wine as if it were a painting, describing its delicate hue and reflective qualities, the clarity and depth of color, and the viscosity of the brush-like traces it leaves along the surface of the glass. This exhibit celebrates the visual beauty and brilliance of wine, allowing you to forget about the technicalities of decanting and proper oxygenation for a moment.
• “To spill”. This short art film is definitely intoxicating. Creator Dennis Adams explores the streets of Bordeaux as he holds a brimming glass of red wine, presumably a Cabernet from the region. The bizarre Freudian free association-like dream narrative is superimposed on images of Adams’s crimson-stained white suit. The underwater voice sounds like it’s speaking from the depths of your mind, mixing French cultural references, literary and artistic commentary, and poetry. The video has French subtitles. This must have been an incredibly difficult monologue to translate. Hat (hats off) to the translators here! Disclaimer – “Spill” can make you drunk.
• the smell wall offers an intimate encounter with seven different wines, each focusing on a particular aroma or fragrance that can typically be found in specific grape and terroir combinations. Some of the featured fragrances include anise, cat pee, capsicum, and gasoline. The wines are in perfume bottles on a transparent wall. This staging projects a golden and crimson light show on the other side of the wall, thus extending an olfactory experience to visual art. This exhibit also explores the role of language in crafting and structuring our sensory experience. For example, “gasoline” was a particularly controversial word that critics have largely stopped using to describe wine, due to its negative connotations.

An astonishing amalgamation of sensory experiences and vinous works of art, this exhibition is daring, unique and refreshing. Art begets wine begets art: a perfect circle. Or wine stain, if you will.