by Jeff “Wick” Wicklund

I can confidently assert that wine has had a direct correlation with many other forms of art since antiquity – whether on the label on the bottle, the cork that seals it, or even the foil that covers the cork. The artisans involved give considerable consideration to recognize and complement the art form of the bottle’s contents.

Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, “The Last Supper,” didn’t depict Jesus and his besties drinking milk.

Closer to home, I remember back in the mid-’90s when I was building out my first wine shop in downtown Everett, I had a friend and fellow local business owner come in and ask, “Wick! What are you doing? This is Everett. You should ‘stack it high and watch it fly’ and offer discounted prices. This looks like you’re trying to build a museum.” I simply replied, “That’s not how I see it. I believe wine is a vast and beautiful art form, and it needs to be respected and portrayed as such (and I think I added, “damn it!”).

One of my favorite movies happens to be written, produced, directed, and acted by avid Eonophiles. “Sideways” is a dark, relationship comedy centered entirely around the wines of northern Santa Barbara County. Factual and hilarious, this viniferous art form takes you on a thought-provoking journey and contains perhaps my favorite movie quote. No, it wasn’t the one about Merlot. It was Maya (played by Virginia Madsen) who said, “I started to appreciate the life of wine, that it’s a living thing, that it connects you more to life. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing. I like to think about how the sun was shining that summer and what the weather was like. I think about all those people who tended and picked the grapes. And if it’s an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now? I love how wine continues to evolve, how if I open a bottle, the wine will taste different than if I had uncorked it on any other day, or at any other moment. A bottle of wine is like life itself – it grows up, evolves, and gains complexity. And it tastes so f***ing good.”

The branding of a bottle of wine begins and ends with the label. Historically in Bordeaux, a Châteaux simply had, and continues to have, a pen-and-ink depiction of the architecture of the Châteaux. Châteaux Mouton Rothschild, which has “First Growth” or “ Première Cru” status, has been dedicating their label design to the world’s most celebrated artists since 1945, including Miro, Chagall, Dali, Picasso, and King Charles.

These “Artist Series” labels have caught on all over the planet. Here in Washington State, wineries such as the trail-blazing Chateau Ste. Michelle and Woodward Canyon have had and continue to have amazing local artists design their annual labels for decades. Chateau Ste. Michelle launched its Artist Series in 1996 to celebrate the collaboration between artisan winemaking and fine art, with the inaugural 1993 vintage featuring glass Artist Dale Chihuly.

Rick Small, Owner and Winemaker at Woodward Canyon Winery in Walla Walla, told me recently, “I was at a wine dinner in Portland, Oregon, and was seated next to an artist named Jenny Mark. With an artist series in mind, I called Jenny and our Artist Series had its first label. She was delighted to be the first, and we still have the art in our home. It’s been a great part of our portfolio, and I would not have changed a thing in doing it. I’ve always believed that wine is a living art form and should be recognized and celebrated as such.”

Rick began the Woodward Canyon Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon in 1992, featuring renowned artists to emphasize his belief that wine is, indeed, art in a bottle.