Donum Estate in the Carneros AVA blends a working winery with an expansive outdoor sculpture collection set across 200 acres. Sanford Biggers's Oracle occupies a prominent slope and was honored with a ceremonial blessing involving the artist, a musical collective and a Buddhist abbot. Owners Allan and Mei Warburg, Hong Kong-based collectors with a history in fashion and China, have amassed more than 60 large-scale works by renowned contemporary artists. The collection includes pieces by Ai Weiwei, Antony Gormley, Keith Haring, Tracey Emin, Yayoi Kusama and Louise Bourgeois, alongside historic works such as Picasso's Woman With a Bun in an Armchair. The estate exemplifies the longstanding relationship between fine wine and the visual arts.
Sonoma on a perfect June evening: The sun's still strong but the vineyards are freshened by a delicious breeze. On a gentle slope, a circle of chairs surrounds a monolithic sculpture, 25-ft tall, gleaming deep black in this half-wild, light-saturated landscape. This is Sanford Biggers's Oracle, a seated figure with a vast and brooding head, hooded eyes and an unreadable expression.
The Hong Kong-based couple - Allan Warburg lived in China for 25 years and made his fortune in fashion - have spent years building their collection, which now numbers more than 60, spread over the 200- acre estate. There are giant pieces by some of the world's most renowned artists - from Ai Weiwei to Antony Gormley, Keith Haring, Tracey Emin, Yayoi Kusama and many others.
The fine wine world has always rubbed shoulders with high art - at least since Philippe de Rothschild commissioned his first Mouton artist label in 1945. Champagne house Louis Roederer is a major patron of the arts; Champagne Krug is deeply involved in music; Super Tuscan producer Ornellaia asks an artist to design its labels for its Vendemmia d'Artista series annually (its latest commission is by Cameroonian Pascale Marthine Tayou
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