If you could capture a sip of your favorite wine as a painting, what would it look like?

Westgarth Wines invites celebrated Bordeaux winemakers to pick the masterpiece that best represents the spirit of their wine and winemaking. From Renaissance works to bold modernism, each choice mirrors terroir, vintage, and winemaking philosophy, showcasing the vibrant creativity that’s a hallmark of Bordeaux wine.

Château Rauzan-Ségla, Second Growth, Margaux: Nicolas Audebert, Winemaker

“A painting that expresses the essence of our wines could be a Mark Rothko, where you have intensity of color, but, simultaneously, a lot of nuance. It's not a landscape with small details and a very figurative type of painting. It's much more about the intensity of the color and the harmony of the global painting.”

Château La Mondotte, Premier Grand Cru Classé, Saint-Émilion: Stéphane von Neipperg, Owner

“I would say Wassily Kandinsky. Perhaps, it's a little bit strange, but you can really see something powerful.”

Château Canon, Premier Grand Cru Classé, Saint-Émilion: Nicolas Audebert, Winemaker and General Manager

“I would say the French painter, Pierre Soulages, who is famous for his use of black. It's very special when you see one of his paintings, because it appears to be mostly black, but of course, you have 50 variations of this hue in one work. Canon is always like this. Canon is not the complexity of the orchestra. When we blend Canon, we don't have a palette of yellow, blue, green, red, and black. We have 50 nuances of black or gray. It's all going in the same way, but with that variation. In terms of painting, it’s very monolithic and monochrome, but within that, you have variation. It's very focused.”

View of Paris, 1969 by Marc Chagall

Château Angelus, Saint-Émilion: Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal, General Manager

“The painting that would represent Angelus the best would be a painting from Marc Chagall, like “View of Paris”. It’s full of color, nuance, and impressions, which is truly a parallel that I make with the wines of Chateau Angelus. Our wines have such a large palette of aromas, like a kaleidoscope.”

 Château Clinet, Pomerol: Ronan Laborde, Managing Director

“I would compare our 2018 vintage to a Vincent Van Gogh. The colors are so bright, and the painting, as a whole, gets inside your head.”

Château Cheval Blanc, Saint-Émilion: Pierre-Oliver Clouet, Winemaker and Technical Manager

“The painter who can represent Cheval Blanc is a painter who paints a lot – someone like Pablo Picasso who produced 3000 different paintings set in different periods. If you look at the wine from Cheval Blanc, you're going to recognize the wine like you're going to recognize Picasso, but if you speak about 2009, 2005, 1982, or 1947, it's going to be like a different painting of Picasso. It could be Picasso’s ‘Pink Period’ or the ‘Blue Period’. ‘Diversity’ is the word you should keep in your mind when you talk about Cheval Blanc.”

Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo da Vinci

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, Second Growth, Saint-Julien: Bruno Borie, Co-owner and General Manager

“I think you can find a style of painting for each vintage. Probably for a very classic vintage, more mature, I would choose something like a biblical scene, like a nativity by Leonardo Da Vinci. I’m thinking of the wonderful 1955 vintage, for example. For the vibrant 2019 vintage, you could go with Jackson Pollock. His work is all over the canvas, and you see different elements and different characteristics.”

Château Canon-la-Gaffelière, Premier Grand Cru Classé, Saint-Émilion: Stéphane von Neipperg, Owner

“I think a more classic painter like J.M.W. Turner would be good. There are a lot of different things, lots of colors, but it’s also very elegant. This is the “Holy Ghost” (Turner work) of the house!”

Google Arts & Culture: The Poppy Field by Claude Monet

Château Beau-Séjour Bécot, Premier Grand Cru Classé B, Saint-Émilion: Julien Barthe, Co-owner

“I am a big fan of Claude Monet. I like his painting “Les Coquelicots” (The Poppies) so much. We have the same kind of landscape here. We have some flowers, mainly when we grub up a vineyard and we plant some flowers, including poppies.”

Britannica: The Scream by Edvard Munch

Château Saint-Pierre, Fourth Growth, Saint-Julien: Jean Triaud, Owner

“My choice is “The Scream” by Edvard Munch, because if you don't have any more of our wine, you are likely to cry and to shout, especially if it's difficult to find any!”

These eminent Bordeaux winemakers highlight the common language of nuance, diversity, and emotion that joins art and wine. What photograph or painting does your favorite wine bring to mind?

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