Eric Kent spring release: interview with Colleen Teitgen, curator

Art, Eric Kent Cellars, wine labels

We were lucky enough to convince Colleen Teitgen, curator of the wine labels at Eric Kent Cellars, to grant us an interview, especially considering she now has her hands full with a new arrival (mazel tov, Colleen!). A tiny bit of background: Eric Kent creates unique labels for each of its bottlings, which are in fact reproductions of pieces by emerging artists. The winery focuses on the Pinot Noir, Syrah and Chardonnay varieties, and is Sonoma County based.

Our questions are in bold, her answers are not…

2006 Eric Kent Stiling Vineyard Pinot Noir, artwork by Tony Spiers

What led to you and Kent deciding to label your wines with original art work? Do you have an Art History background? Formal training as an artist?

I decided to go back to art school in my 30’s to get my BFA in Painting & Drawing. I had a background as an art director working in advertising but my true love was fine art. During my last year in school, Kent (who was also working in advertising as a creative director) decided he wanted to leave to pursue winemaking. We were brainstorming ideas for our labels and the idea just hit us over the head! Here I was an artist, with lots of artist friends but we all faced a common dilemma… how do unknown artists get their work out there? It seemed like such the perfect marriage of our passions.

How do you curate the labels? Do you find artists you like and then figure out which wines their work would be most appropriate for? Or do you look for pieces that somehow correlate to the wines you’ve made in a particular vintage? Have you ever had an artist create a label specifically for a wine, or are they existing pieces that are reproduced in label format?

Generally, I find artists whose work I like and that I think would reproduce well at our label size. I’m looking for art that is unique, compelling, non-standard wine bottle art. As I continue to choose artists for a particular vintage, I keep in mind what the collection of labels will look like as a whole. I like there to be variety but also a cohesiveness. This becomes more critical as I choose each individual work for the labels. We don’t commission artists to create pieces specifically for our labels because we want the work to represent the artists not us.

What do you think the relationship is between art and wine, in general?

As a general answer, I think the two are very similar. Kent likes to say making wine is an art in the same way that cooking is an art — you can only make something great with the best ingredients, but each creator will produce something different given the same things to work with. From my perspective creating a wine is much like creating a painting. It’s something that the artist/winemaker is constantly trying to perfect, learning as they produce new works/wines and dealing with the nature of an organic medium. Sometimes you get unexpected results that can be wonderfully exciting. Other times you discover that something isn’t working the way you anticipated and you need to modify things to achieve a better result. It’s an ever changing process, so each new body of work/vintage brings with it tremendous excitement as well as new challenges.

In terms of marketing, how do most of your customers hear of you? How do you see the internet as a tool for growing your customer base? And have you gained any customers that may have come across you not because they were looking for wine, but because they were searching for information on any of the artists you feature?

Our customer base is a mix of people — referrals from people who already enjoy our wines or who are in our club, those who discover us in restaurants and retail shops, people who read about us in wine publications or hear about us through wine chat rooms and blogs. I don’t think we would be as successful as we are without our website and the internet in general. Our website makes it very easy for potential customers to learn about our wines, artists, and sign up for our wine club. We also use email campaigns as the primary mode of communication to our club members as well as a way to contact potential new club members who have signed up for our email list.

We do know of a number of circumstances in which someone bought our wine because they liked the label and were interested in the artist. The flip side has also occurred and that’s what really pleases us most. We’ve had a number of our customers contact the artists on our labels and buy work from them.

You focus on Chardonnay, Syrah and Pinot Noir — any plans to diversify with other grape varieties?

At this point no, but who knows what the future could bring. We decided when we started this business that we wanted to focus on wine that we enjoyed drinking most and that best exemplified Sonoma County (in our opinion).

You’ve paired your wines with art you think is perfect for them…what do you suggest people pair with the current releases in terms of food?

Stiling Vineyard Pinot Noir – Pork Tenderloin w/Cherries, Wild Mushrooms, Pinot Reduction Sauce
Windsor Oaks Vineyard Pinot Noir – Grilled Salmon, Lightly Salted & Peppered
Russian River Valley Chardonnay – Pan-seared Scallops with Pumpkin Risotto Sonoma Coast Chardonnay – Grilled Halibut with Lemon Spaghetti

How about music pairings?

Stiling Vineyard Pinot Noir – Kate Bush “The Hounds of Love”, Wilco, Hayden “Skyscraper National Park”, Cocteau Twins
Windsor Oaks Vineyard Pinot Noir – Beth Gibbons, Laura Veirs, Djivan Gasparyan
Russian River Valley Chardonnay – Ultra Lounge (Martin Denny, Les Baxter, Dean Martin, etc.), Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn
Sonoma Coast Chardonnay – Neil Young “After the Gold Rush”, Malcolm Middleton “Into the Woods”, Beirut

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To find out about the specific wines and artists featured in this Spring’s release of wines from Eric Kent, go to the Eric Kent Cellars website. If you’re interested in purchasing any of the wines, you can do so either winery direct, or through domaine547, where we’re happy to be able to offer you several Eric Kent selections from the current release.

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