Under/standing | Dror

Brancott Vineyard, site of the first Sauvignon Blanc plantings in Marlborough and home of Brancott Estate, will also be the home of a permanent installation by New Yorkbased designer, Dror Benshetrit. Titled Under/standing and composed of cutting-edge geometry, Dror’s intricate, volumetric sculpture fuses art and science—a direct reflection of Brancott Estate’s artful winemaking process and commitment to innovation. 

Brancott Estate Chief Winemaker, Patrick Materman says “Understanding the science behind winemaking has given us the tools we need to express ourselves creatively through our wine. This shared use of science to create art is what inspired us to work with Dror Benshetrit, whose combined love of poetry and structure is clear in his work.” 

Inspired by a visit to Brancott Estate in 2014, Dror’s 8m high installation is comprised of 52 individual components that lock together once the flat matrix unfolds into its final position. The intricate piece offers multiple perspectives based on vantage point: viewed from afar, it appears as though it has risen from the ground in the same orientation as the grapevines; up close, the viewer is immersed in its beautiful complexity. “After visiting Brancott Estate and meeting Patrick, I was struck by the level of care and detail that goes into a single bottle of wine—from the cultivation of the vines and harvesting of the grapes through to the fermentation, blending and bottling,” explains Dror. “I wanted to encapsulate that detailed process in a design that both responded to the landscape and symbolised the vineyard’s ongoing transformation.” As Dror was inspired by the winemaking philosophy of Brancott Estate, Patrick was inspired by the installation design, and has crafted a limited edition wine range titled Reflection. 

“One of the elements of Dror’s designs that really resonated with me was how they can be viewed both as a single object and as multiple, interconnected components working together,” says Patrick. “This inspired me to craft wines using multiple individual parcels which all maintain their integrity but also combine into a perfectly balanced, harmonious wine.” The limited edition Reflection range includes a Sauvignon Blanc/Sauvignon Gris 2016 blend and a Pinot Noir 2015. The packaging for the range is designed by Dror to reflect Under/standing. The limited edition range and the installation join the wine rack Present, which was released in 2015 when the collaboration was announced. 

Under/standing can be viewed at the Brancott Estate Heritage Centre from 19 October 2017. From this date, the Brancott Estate Reflection Limited Edition range will be available to purchase from the Brancott Estate Heritage Centre, via the Brancott Estate Wine Club (brancottestatewineclub.com) and in New Zealand Travel Retail for NZ $60 for Sauvignon Blanc/ Sauvignon Gris and NZ $80 for Pinot Noir. Magnums are priced at NZ $130 for Sauvignon Blanc/ Sauvignon Gris and $170 for Pinot Noir.