The similarities between making and consuming wine are strikingly similar to that of art. In this new series, The Waves, a new ecommerce and editorial platform that curates and ships the world’s best natural wines directly to your door, pairs wines with a current art exhibition. For this inaugural feature, a vibrant Edvard Munch work from The Clark Art Institute’s current exhibition has inspired a trio of sumptuous libations.
Edvard Munch, The Fairytale Forest, (1927–29). Photo: © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Courtesy of The Clark Art Institute
On view until October 15, The Clark Art Institute presents “Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth,” an exhibition shedding new light on the mysterious artist’s practice and inspiration. Over 75 pieces, including self portraits and landscape works, examine how Munch interacted with nature through his process, and as a result, incorporated it into his masterpieces. The joy of innocence, the peculiarity of youth, the transition into adulthood. All are themes explored by Edvard Munch over the course of a fifty-year-plus painting career—and, as it turns out, by some of today’s most compelling natural winemakers.
Barbichette, Tête-Bêche, Cuvée Marie-France, 2021. Photo: Courtesy of The Waves
Munch depicts children on the precipice of growth. The Waves celebrates the next wave of creators building on the natural wine tradition. The young winemaking duo behind Barbichette, Louisiane Remy and Cesar Vega, is reimagining what’s possible in the Finger Lakes region of NY. Take their light-on-its-feet, low-alcohol (11.8%) Tête-Bêche, a Cabernet Franc that defies the grape’s dark, vegetal reputation. “Barbichette” refers to a childhood game Remy played growing up in Brittany, France. This particular wine is named in honor of her grandmother, Marie-France. A beautiful testament to childhood nostalgia and generational homage—and this summer’s perfect chilled red wine.
Gut Oggau, Cecilia, 2021. Photo: Courtesy of The Waves
Munch’s forest is mysterious, foreboding, and oddly enticing—the hallmarks of a cautionary fairytale. In our current context of climate change, it’s almost ironic that the forest is not so much a harbinger of doom as it is our chance at salvation. Bolstering the biodiversity of vineyards is a big agricultural priority for many of the winegrowers The Waves supports, but perhaps none more outspoken than Eduard and Stephanie Tscheppe of Gut Oggau in Burgenland, Austria. A darker rosé, their Cecilia drinks like a salted lassi made from flowers and tropical fruits. In other words, amazing. And, like Munch’s forest, a portal of sensory transformation.
Richard Stávek, Veselý, 2017. Photo: Courtesy of The Waves
The greens of Munch’s forest are so saturated you can almost smell them. A kindred spirit, Richard Stávek’s Vezely is a testament to the consuming power of nature. Stávek has long been at the forefront of a now-resurgent natural wine movement in the Czech Republic, and here he works with a field blend of indigenous grape varieties from his tiny Moravian estate—Blaufränkisch, Andre, Cabernet Moravia, and others—to merge an intense depth of savory fruit with the unapologetically herbaceous, Munch-like woods that always lies beneath. Mysterious, inviting, and scarce—less than 1,000 bottles produced.
All The Waves’ offerings are organically farmed, small-production bottles that are free of the 70-plus chemical additives currently allowed, without consumer disclosure, in the US. Hand-selected and sourced by multiple James Beard Award-winners Rajat Parr and Billy Smith (formerly of Brooklyn’s The Four Horsemen), these wines are presented via a first-of-its-kind experience that empowers consumers to personalize their choices like never before. (Think: Spotify for natural wines.)
To learn more about The Waves—and receive an exclusive 20% discount—go to thewaves.wine.
