The character of Ornellaia 2013, the eighth edition of Vendemmia d’Artista, was “L’Eleganza”.
Yutaka Sone was the artist chosen to interpret “L’Eleganza”.

Born in Shizuoka, Japan in 1965, Yutaka Sone studied art and architecture at Geijutsu University in Tokyo. Yutaka Sone is renowned in the art world as a painter, sculptor and all-round artist. His passion and intensity becomes visible in the details and philosophy of his work. He has held personal shows at the Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland; Aspen Art Museum, Colorado; The Renaissance Society at Chicago University (all in 2006); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2003); and Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Toyota, Japan (2002). The artist represented Japan, with Motohiko Odani, at the Venice Biennale in 2003. He lives and works in Los Angeles.

“When I started this project,” explains artist Yutaka Sone, “having worked with marble for my entire life, I knew exactly what direction to take to interpret the character of Ornellaia 2013 “L’Eleganza”. I decided to visit the Carrara marble quarries, the place where Michelangelo sourced the marble for his sculptures. Two close friends of mine, Luc Tuymans and Rirkrit Tiravanija, joined me on this journey and we had a picnic in this magical place on the mountaintops, surrounded by white marble rocks that look out towards the sea in the distance. This place, which for me summarises the sublime elegance of nature, inspired me while we were sharing food, drinking fine wine, and chatting. As you can see from the labels I created, I wanted to interpret the value of sharing, friendship and the extraordinary singularity of this experience.” 
The labels and sculpture for the Salmanazar tell the story of this extraordinary experience through photography, silk-screen printing and sculpture. A special day dedicated to the value of friendship set in the sublime elegance of Mother Nature.

Some of the large-format bottles of Vendemmia d’Artista “L’Eleganza” were sold at the Sotheby’s auction held on 19 May 2016. The profits were donated to the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.