For the artistic combination with the wines of Marilena Aufiero, Ritmo diVino has chosen the most representative work of Paul Strand, one of the greatest photographers of all time, the first that made this medium a true and own art form
Just two nights ago I saw, with much interest, the latest film by Ridley Scott, ” All the money in the world “, a feature that tells of a not too recent news item: the kidnapping of the Getty house heir , John Paul Getty III.
John Paul Getty III, nephew of the first man who came to boast an income of over one billion dollars, was taken in Piazza Farnese, in Rome, in 1973, by a commando of members of the ‘Ndrangheta linked to the Calabrian calabrian cosca.
Faced with the demand for a ransom of seventeen billion lire, the grandfather oilman and founder of Getty Oil, refused to pay the amount, with the real risk that the nephew was killed, because, declared the ” great old man “, he had 14 other nephews. And paying the ransom for only one of them, would have pushed criminals of every ream to do the same with the other family members.
In the end, Paul Getty Sr. got his nephew back, but only after the boy was cut off a piece of ear, and the criminals received a sum of one billion and six hundred million lire as “compensation”.
I told about this episode because Paul Getty Sr., as well as a millionaire, was also a philanthropist. Although in its own way.
His guests, to call from his London estate, were forced to pay the call in chips. And Getty Sr. was so mean that not to pay taxes to the state, the wealth of this controversial man could not be spent but only invested.
Thus, when the great old man died in 1976, it was discovered that all his wealth, which in addition to gold and jewels, consisted exclusively of works of art.
His collection was then exhibited in Los Angeles, at the disposal of his heirs, at the Getty Museum which still bears the name.
Now, among the works of this man who had the ability to rebuild, in America, the villa of the papyri of Herculaneum, there was also the object we have chosen for the combination of today.
This is the shot titled New York and dating back to 1915, by Paul Strand.
Paul Strand was one of the greatest photographers of all time, the man who first saw photography as an art form.
Before Steve McCurry, who made one of the most popular shots of the 1900s, the gaze of the Afghan girl with green eyes, there was Strand and only Strand.
Strand was the master of the black and white photo, the man who first portrayed the life of the street and its inhabitants, in addition to the architecture and natural landscapes. A man who made reality speak in all its facets.
We chose Strand for the combination with the Greco of Cantina Bambinuto because the chosen artist portrayed, in his photos, always and only the purity of everyday life, everything that aims straight to the truth.
In the same way as Strand, Marilena Aufiero goes direct in the processing of her Greek: there is no compromise for her. There is nothing that fills its nectar, no exogenous yeasts, nothing but the pure fruit of nature vinified as it is.
The Greek of Marilena does not admit half measures: either you like it or you do not like it. And this is how we think it must be a wine that comes from a complex grape as the Greek, a grape that makes acidity its main feature. You can not make it sophisticated.
Or rather, you can do it to meet the palate of those who want to taste this wine but do not particularly love the flavors. Only then, what you do you can not expect it to be “the Greek”, but “a Greek”.
As the photo of Strand plays on the chiaroscuros, so Marilena produces her Greek without a middle ground. How nature creates. What you find on the plant at harvest, you find it in the bottle after you have worked it.
