A talk on clay from the point of view of an artist and a wine expert.
The same earth material that has been used for thousands of years to produce art, is also what mankind first used for vessels in winemaking. Clay continues to be essential from the vineyard to the winery from growing grapes in clay soils, to using clay amphora for fermentation, and even fining prior to bottling.
In this multisensorial workshop participants will be introduced to different types of natural clays with demonstrations by local ceramic artist, Sylvie Joly, as she discusses their qualities and uses in pottery. Wine expert, Victoria Daskal will then present a flight of wines from around the world discussing how clay has played a vital role in their production. Participants will try wines from Georgia, Slovenia, Italy, France, New Zealand, and USA.
ABOUT VICTORIA
Victoria Daskal is a wine writer, presenter, educator, and judge with over 15 years of experience in the wine industry. Victoria is the founder of Mummy Wine Club, an award-winning wine subscription club and wine events company based in London. She specialises in presenting wines from all over the world for private, corporate, and virtual wine events. She has completed a MSc in International Wine Management, and a Diploma from the WSET in London where she currently teaches.
@mummywineclub | www.mummywineclub.com
ABOUT SYLVIE
Sylvie is a ceramic artist with a studio based in Chiswick where she teaches small groups. She makes functional tableware, vases and jars, often using black and iron-rich stoneware clays. Her work is informed by the natural properties and colours of each clay and she often leaves the exterior of the pot unglazed to showcase the fired clay. Vessels are thrown on the wheel, flatware slab-built. She likes to keep the forms simple and she develops the glazes to achieve a rich surface. She is inspired again and again by Japanese and Korean classic forms. She wants her pots to bring joy to the eye and the hand of the user and very much hopes her pots get used, rather than sleep on a shelf.