The Italian Winemaker Who Stops The Time With His Artwork—And Science
Emanuele Marchesini in his atelier
A 'time capsule' is a container that holds items, photos or documents to preserve a snapshot of the present for future generations. A 'piece of time' that projects itself into the future and will one day be discovered. What if this time capsule contained a fresh fruit, such as a grape, but it was 100 years old? In 2125, winemakers would be delighted to learn about the 2025 vintage and the challenges their far-away colleagues faced.
Emanuele Marchesini is a young Italian winemaker who is dedicated to preserving fresh grapes for the sake of science and art. He creates stunning sculptures with fresh grapes using a special combination of temperature, humidity, and resin that 'freezes' the fruit as it is. The way he stops the time and the natural decay of the grapes is the kind of sculpture he's getting famous for.
Such items can last intact for years, maybe even decades. Who knows? This is a completely new approach to both the sculpture and the winemaking. In the near future, people may be able to examine for evidence of the characteristics of a vintage from a long time ago. Marchesini refers to these sculptures as "monoliths" and they can be found in the Montresor's Wine Museum on the outskirts of Verona.
After graduating in enology from the University of Verona, Emanuele spent many years working for a local wine cooperative. After that, he left to work in a chemical analysis laboratory, where he began experimenting with mixing chemistry and natural raw materials, something he is still doing. "When I approach my artworks, I think like a winemaker,' he explains. 'I find pleasure in using natural materials such as vine leaves, grape seeds, and grape skins because I am deeply familiar with them. Making wine is something I love, but have you ever thought about the work that precedes it? Well, before bunches of fermented grapes become a wine, there is the grape processing. And no one sees it.' Emanuele Marchesini transforms the waste from the winemaking process into a new form of art.
A "monolith" of Nosiola grape partially dried
His biggest artwork so far is 'Apollineo & Dionisiac,' a bas-relief that measures 10 by 3 meters and depicts a man in a vortex of grape seeds, wooden vines, and dry leaves. The impressive figure seems to emerge from the wall of the conference room at Montresor Wine Shop. In another room of Montresor's Wine Museum, there are the 'monoliths' of Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella, the grapes used to make Amarone della Valpolicella. The grapes are preserved in their resin cases.
Recently, Emanuele successfully made other 'monoliths' using the white Nosiola grape, a local variety from the Trentino region. 'I tried to 'freeze' also Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, but it didn't work either," he admits. "Upon contact with the resin, the clusters exploded. The truth is, no formula fits every grape, as there are too many different variables to consider. You have to learn by trial and error. Next vintage I'll try it again.' Science cannot stop, nor can art.
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