Imagery Estate Winery is an artisan winery with an artful presentation that imbues it’s entire process from vine to bottle to the final presentation at their winery in Glen Ellen in the Sonoma Valley. Only a 60 minute drive from San Francisco, it has enough to offer to enjoy a leisure afternoon of wine, art and fun in the sun playing bocce and horseshoes while savoring a bottle of wine with your picnic lunch.

Imagery Estate Winery was started by Joe Benziger, whose family has been crafting wines in Sonoma Valley since the 1980s. When he set out to showcase some varietals he had the good fortune of meeting local artist Bob Nugent who agreed to design his first labels. Those labels turned into 20 years of collaboration that has resulted in a unique art collection that fills the tasting room and is on most bottles they produce.

The logo for Imagery is the Parthenon. While not readily apparent it is included on every bottle label, piece of art in the winery and incorporated into the decor of several rooms. So why the Parthenon?

It represents Benziger courage and idealism – the ego strength necessary to stick to one’s ideals – while the dynamic way the Parthenon is pictured by the artists conveys the life force in the wine. In other words, the Parthenon, a balanced, classical structure signifies courage and ambition and sense of purpose – virtu, as it was called in the Renaissance – while the romantic way in which the artists render the Parthenon, or the exciting esthetic environment in which they situate it, signifies the wine that fuels the Benizigers’ pluck and integrity and idealism, that is empowers their sense of possibility.

– Quote from Bob Nugent’s book – Imagery: Art for Wine. Available at the Winery

The art collection now has over 200 pieces. How did this all come about with one artist and one label? With artist license granted by Joe Benziger, Bob Nugent had the vision to create unique labels that would be designed by artists in each of their own unique styles. The one thing that was to bring them together was the only requirement of including the Parthenon however they saw fit into their art.

While he was researching wine labels he discovered that another winery had done this previously. In the 1950’s Baron Philippe de Rothschild of France produced wines with labels by famous artists of that time period. He paid them with five cases of wine from that bottling and five cases of wine from his private cellar. Understanding the satisfaction derived by an artist seeing their art on quality wine, Bob Nugent pitched this idea to Benziger who agreed they would give each artist 10 cases of wine with their label. 20 years later this is still the form of compensation.

This took me back to a forgotten memory of a Mouton Rothschild Bordeaux bottled in 1970 with a Marc Chagall label that I received as a wedding present. We drank on it our first anniversary and took forever to dispose of the empty bottle. It was magic. That unique label will always cause you to remember the wine, the art and the memories of the sip.

The collection includes artist from all over the world, along with regional artists such as Susan Dopp, Chester Arnold, Gary Nesbit and William Smith. They are selected for their talent, not their notoriety.

Imagery produces at least a dozen wines every year that will feature artist images. They match up the images with the wines to best reflect the qualities of the wine. The images have been curated all these years by Bob Nugent. There are flyers in the winery about their program for the asking. Artists who wish to be considered for a label should submit a portfolio of original work (slides or CD), a resume, reviews etc to the Curator of Collections, Imagery Estate Winery on 14335 Sonoma Highway, Glen Ellen, CA 95442. Labels made in advance are not considered.

The portfolios are reviewed periodically by a committee. When an artist is selected they are informed of the few requirements they must meet and given no deadlines. The artist has free rein in creating the image in any medium as long as they include the parthenon in all or part.

Imagery invites you to bring your picnic lunch. They have a large open lawn with picnic tables, bocce ball and horseshoes. There is plenty of room to stretch out with blankets and take a short walk through the property. Dogs and children are welcome. If you forget your lunch you can pick up some great cheese, bread and deli foods at Glen Ellen’s Village Market right before you arrive.

Imagery Estate Winery

14335 Sonoma Highway
Glen Ellen, CA 95442 in Sonoma Valley
Tasting Room Hours: 10 am to 4:30 pm daily
Phone: 800.989.8890 (toll free)
Direct: 707.935.4515

Their site: Imagery Estate Winery
Their FB Page: Imagery Estate Winery FB
Learn about Bob Nugent: Bob Nugent Art FB