Wine&Gold: A Recipe for a Connoisseur

What unites wine and jewelry is a careful and meticulous approach that shines in the attention to detail as well as in the art and passion of those who produce them and spend their time making them. Both represent two excellences of our culture, two distinct worlds that if combined, can give life to prized artistic creations. With this in mind, here are some of the works of Italian goldsmiths that have offered different jewels inspired by wine culture. We begin in Tuscany, one of Italy’s most important wine regions, where we find a wonderful pair of cufflinks elegantly made by an ancient Florentine goldsmith workshop. The ‘Gold Enamel Wine Cufflinks’ elegantly feature all the elements of wine: a grape bunch, a wine glass, a bottle opener and a bottle. You can see these unique accessories at Bernardo Antichità on Florence’s Ponte Vecchio. From Tuscany, we move on to the Veneto, precisely to Peschiera on Lake Garda, where the Zenato family has been producing wine on the ancient morainic soils of Lugana and Valpolicella since 1960. In this context, we also have the charming creations of Nadia Zenato, wine entrepreneur and jewelry designer. Her latest work, the Gold Leaves ring, is reminiscent of the grace and delicateness of those vines, which have always been a distinctive symbol of the family. The ornamental openwork motif of the grape leaf, in 18-carat gold, is illuminated by surrounding rubies set in white gold. Nadia Zenato Jewelry also gives life to new creations, uniting corks with precious materials. And Infinity Dreams – a silver bangle with a gold Lugana Brut muselet cap – is made with brilliant silver and surrounded in sparkling zirconia stones, making it a valuable one-of-a-kind piece.

We then move on to Rome where we meet designer/sculptor Cristiana Perali, who was born into a historic jewelry family that celebrated 110 years in business last year. Cristiana Perali also studied with the Italian Sommelier Association. She made a tastevin – the symbol of sommeliers and a tool in the art of tasting – for the association. Her pins and charms come in different sizes suitable for industry pros or connoisseurs and she also makes professional tastevins with silver chains for the more ‘sophisticated’ sommeliers. It is a beautiful cadeau, realized a banchetto (which is a workbench technique) and a lost wax technique in gold, silver and bronze. The last stop on this short tour is in Calabria, where in 2015, goldsmith Gerardo Sacco realized an impressive work for the fiftieth anniversary of the Italian Sommelier Association. A sterling silver tastevin, chiseled and embossed entirely by hand. Made with 800 grams of lunar metal, it is 30 centimeters in diameter with 22 bubbles and pearls and the notches of the celebrated sommelier instrument, the symbol of the association, with an image of Dionysus at the center. The work can be seen at the Italian Sommelier Association in Milan.