One of the nice things about attending sessions at the Moscone Center are the many galleries and museums within a short walking distance from the conference facilities. The conference that you're attending may feed your mind but the galleries and museums you can visit can feed your soul. On Saturday I popped into the SF Museum of Modern Art to view their latest exhibit 'How Wine Became Modern'. I am a member of the Art Gallery of Ontario so the entrance was free.
The exhibit starts in 1976 - the date of the now iconic Paris wine tasting in which American and French wines were blind tasted - and the American wines won. For the first time ever Californian wines were seen as world class. In the ensuing 35 years the wine industry has undergone a remarkable change. This tasting is represented by the huge wall painting you see below.
'How Wine Became Modern' explores the visual culture of wine and its stunning transformation over the last three decades. The exhibition combines historical artifacts, architectural models, design objects, newly commissioned artworks, and enticing installations, including a "smell wall," to probe many aspects of wine culture, among them the globalization of wine, concepts of terroir, wine in popular media, and new strategies in label, glassware, and winery design.
The museum has devoted more than twice the usual space for design shows — 7,500 square feet of its fourth floor. “How Wine Became Modern,” which runs until April 17, is divided into nine main sections: terroir, the DNA of the grape, global changes in wine production, winery architecture, modern production methods, labels, wine glass production, how wine has entered popular culture, and wine tasting.
They had a huge wall devoted to how wine labels have evolved over this time. It was neat to see them classified in the various categories. I was also surprised to see bottles of wine from three of our favourite Niagara wineries represented.
It was fascinating to see how the concept of a winery has changed with the advent of wine tourism. I was taken aback by some of the stunning architecture that was displayed - it is clear that in many cases the winery structure is as important as the wine in the bottle.
I really enjoyed the 'sniff wall'. Over the past few years there have been radical changes in theway wines are described - hamster cage being used to describe the scent of Syrah for instance. The scent wall held snifters of wine that displayed the characteristics being described - all you had to do was squeeze the rubber ball which released some air into the flask of wine thereby releasing the scent.
If you're a wine fan like me and are in the SF are you should check out this fun and quirky exhibit.
hello there, i just want you to know that i really enjoy looking arround in your website
and thanks for sharing imformation im looking forward for more amazing post
-kathy
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Posted by: kathy | March 29, 2011 at 05:14 AM
Love the "sniff wall." what a great idea for an exhibit.
Posted by: Amy | March 30, 2011 at 03:30 PM
Like Amy, I love the idea of the sniff wall! Sounds like a really interesting exhibition.
Posted by: sandrac | March 30, 2011 at 09:36 PM
The sniff wall was great fun - imagine describing a wine as hamster cage . . . yet it did smell like one.
Thanks Kathy.
Posted by: JDeQ | April 03, 2011 at 04:41 PM