Kenwood Chooses Painter Wayne Thiebaud for Artist-Series Label

Jacob Gaffney
Posted: October 4, 2000

An American artist famous for painting edible subjects, such as candied apples and cupcakes, now has his work appearing on wine bottles. Kenwood Vineyards, in Sonoma Valley, has picked a watercolor by Pop artist Wayne Thiebaud to showcase on the label of its 1996 Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon.

For the 22nd label in its series honoring the visual arts, the winery chose "Hill Street," a vibrant city landscape done in a Japanese style known as ukiyo-e, or "floating world." Thiebaud originally painted the watercolor in 1987.

Kenwood has used the work of famous artists such as Pablo Picasso and Charles Mingus to decorate its Artist Series labels since the 1975 vintage.

The wine is a blend of 80 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 19 percent Merlot and 1 percent Cabernet Franc. The 1996 Artist Series Cabernet retails for $70 per bottle; 3,790 cases were made.

Check out recent ratings of Kenwood's Artist Series.

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