Since the 19th century, artists like Toulouse-Lautrec have painted works of art to advertise this or that product. Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly common to find the work of artists adorning the labels of the wines we buy. No other brand in Portugal encourages this link with art so strongly as Herdade do Esporão, a sort of Mouton-Rothschild of the Alentejo.
This concern for culture has been emphasised with the recent renovation of the Tower of Esporão, the estate’s brand image. Indeed, the Tower will be housing an exhibition of the labels reviewed here…
…labels by masters who lend their artistry to Finagra’s finest table wines. Herdade do Esporão has depicted works by Portugal’s greatest contemporary artists on the labels of its top-of-the-range products for the past 15 years.
Dórdio Gomes (‘85), Cargaleiro (‘85 and ‘87), João Hogan (in ‘86, the works produced for Esporão were to win him first place in the 2nd Plastic Arts Exhibition of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation), Júlio Pomar (‘87 and ‘90), Júlio Rezende (‘89), José Guimarães (‘91 and ‘92), Artur Bual (‘94), Mestre Isabelino (‘94 and ‘96) and Luís Pinto Coelho (‘95 and ‘97) constitute an impressive gallery representative of the finest creations in the diverse styles and trends of contemporary Portuguese art.
So, the next time you drink a wine from Herdade do Esporão, apart from appreciating the contents, take the opportunity, to ‘savour’ the magnificent work of art that embellishes the bottle.
Finagra continues to pursue this policy with the wines which the company has on the market today. Among the most recent, Mestre Isabelino dignifies the labels of the ’94 red and the ’96 white with his primitive modern paintings; Luís Pinto Coelho is responsible for the design of three different products: the ’95 red, and the ’94 white and Garrafeira; and Julião Sarmento created the painting which appears on the label of the ’97 Esporão Reserva.
NewsWine, 2003-11-10