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Drawing on the surrounding Stellebosch landscape for inspiration, Lorenzo Nassimbeni has recently completed a mural for the new winery building of Neil Ellis Wines.
Nassimbeni describes the mural as an “architectural site section”. It depicts a distilled interpretation of the process of winemaking. The mural gives this process a feeling of sensuality and status.
Three interrelated elements form the overall linear narrative. Representing the land, or the “terroir”, the mountain becomes the main façade of the new building while the building points towards the bottled products. Nassimbeni further explains that the line continues to become a “site-specific vineyard, the source of the wine itself”.
The vine-like line is a spatial element at the entrance that leads to the centre of the wine tasting area. “In all, the mural is a directional device, but also offers the interior of the winery with an iconic image, with which visitors may associate their wine-tasting experience,” Nassimbeni says.
