Teorema

conceived by Twinpalms

The people behind the innovation of the TEOREMA Wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley, Chile, 2008) conceived by Twinpalms describe how a dash of Chile, Thailand’s tropical heat, luxuriant aromas and flavours, cultural contrasts and cutting-edge artistry -- and a spare few hours in Santiago -- came together in magical ways to create a sublime wine that fits Twinpalms to a T.

Steven Roberto

Winemaker Phuket

“By coincidence, I was on holiday in Chile when my staff called me from Phuket saying a winemaker was on the phone, wanting to talk about importing his wine to Thailand. She gave him my number and he called me, not realizing that I was already in Chile.
 
It was six hours until my return flight to Thailand but I thought, What the hell. I told him, if you want to meet me send a driver to the airport to bring me to the Domus Aurea winery; I am in Santiago right now. And that is how I first met Jean Pascal Lacasze.
 
You have to understand that I get one or two wineries a week asking about exporting to Thailand. Most of them produce fairly commercial and uninteresting wines so I did not have great expectations. But what I tasted here slapped me in the face with its extraordinary complexity and elegance. I was onto something. Jean Pascal and I agreed on a price and I began the import process the second day after my return to Thailand.
 
Olivier Gibaud and I have worked together on food and beverage at Twinpalms for five years. He truly is a marketing-oriented manager who keeps himself challenged, striving to better satisfy his guests. When Olivier asked me if I could bring in some high quality house wine, a light bulb went off in my head.
 
I asked, Why a house wine? Why not something better? Something truly great that no winemaker or resort had ever done before? What if we made a small quantity of magnificent wine that bridged the commonalities and differences of two great countries and cultures, Thailand and Chile? Olivier considered the idea for a moment and simply said, Make it happen.
 
The challenge was not to get Jean Pascal to agree. It was how to define the wine. Twinpalms and Domus are both about elegance but while Domus, like Chile itself, is reserved, introspective and serene, Twinpalms is lively and full of flash and impact. Somehow I had to create a wine that was simultaneously bold and restrained.
 
Like a high-stakes game of poker Jean Pascal and I played each other’s hand with our own blends assembled from the various lots of wine at Domus, challenging each other to defend our logic, questioning everything we saw in each other’s wine and in our own. Maybe it was mutual exhaustion but a breakthrough moment came on the third day when we both compromised and a blend fell into being.
 
It was a perfect wine for our undertaking, a wine that both defined and defied Domus that could at the same time conjure up images of swaying palms and crashing surf at Twinpalms. Never before had I encountered a wine where such a small percentage difference in barrels created such a huge difference in the wine. Somehow we had found our wine. Then, what to call it?”

Jean Pascal Lacasze

Winemaker Chile

“This project was launched without me even realizing it, to tell the truth. My first meeting with Twinpalms was to analyze the possibility of producing a wine reserve with a custom label. Without really knowing how, the conversation turned into an exploration of making a high-end wine in very limited quantity, guided by Domus Aurea. A few days later, I left with a semblance of an agreement signed between Olivier and myself.
 
To understand the creation of this wine, we must understand the beauty of the scene, which at first glance does not seem complicated. Yet, to recognize true beauty is not quite within reach of everyone.
 
At the risk of offending our friends at Twinpalms, the beauty of this hotel is intimately linked not only to the beauty of the surroundings but also to the people and the quality of service. To achieve this, the supervision of staff here is extremely vigorous and exacting. The wine should therefore take into account this aspect and bring in all the elements of supreme luxury, but invisibly.
 
Domus wines have more sensory characteristics that can combine the two concepts: First, round tannins. Velvety, gorgeous, and, finally ... as silky as an Hermes. On this point, the soil is incomparable and Domus TEOREMA is a perfect version. Secondly, a fresh nose full of floral notes. The fruit is expressed and then combines fresh fruit with candied fruit. TEOREMA also shows this contrast.”

Olivier Gibaud

Twinpalms General Manager

“Wine is pleasure in a bottle. It has been celebrated or has been a cause for celebration for centuries.
When considering how to be unique and offer an experiential moment at Twinpalms, wine emerged as an obvious choice. Being able to serve a product defined, grown, harvested and compiled solely for Twinpalms and its guests seems a divine way to create a distinctive experience.
 
Chile, a new-world wine producer; Domus Aurea Winery, simply the finest red wine in Chile; Jean Pascal, Domus Aurea Winemaker; Steven, Twinpalms Winemaker; and Benjamin Lira, Chile’s most acclaimed artist of this century -- this engaging mix of elements and people were united in April for a magic adventure, which would find its home in a bottle.
 
Combining grape juice from the 2008 harvest, barrels from the finest French cherry wood, a supremely attractive dark-glass bottle and an outstanding label that’s a true work of art ... TEOREMA by Twinpalms was born.
 
Just as we hope for with every Twinpalms experience, TEOREMA is full of pleasant surprises. Everyone experiences it differently. We’ve found that TEOREMA simply never tastes the same, depending on where, with whom, when and how you enjoy it.
 
Only 750 bottles of the 2008 TEOREMA have been bottled, so if you do see Carl Langenskiold, the Twinpalms proprietor, within the resort, he will without a doubt welcome you at his table for a sip of the elixir.
 
I can’t wait till the 2009 TEOREMA is given life. And for the many new seasons to come.”

Benjamin Lira

Artist (Wine Label)

Benjamin Lira is a Chilean artist whose works have been featured in several galleries in North and South America. Known for his vivid paintings, here he discusses his recent artistic exploration into sculpture.
 
My work is the result of a constant investigation to reveal the multiplicity of expressions that can represent the human condition.
 
The process is more intuitive than rational. Many of the images in my work just appear and go taking their form or format in the process. I spend long months searching for the correct colour or shape, so time is also part of each piece.
 
The process goes developing intuitively; I don’t follow any preconceived master plan. I am not interested in portraiture but in rendering the object with all the intricacies of mankind.
 
The fact that it takes the shape of human heads, or that the figure is a recurrent element in my pictorial and sculptural compositions, allows me to further explore issues of human existence: Man searching for a dialogue between space and time.
 
Texture in my paintings and in the stoneware heads is essential. I work, pushing the clay to the limit of abstraction, reducing elements to basic lines, scratches, that take shape into a universal human head. Fire is the final element that brings the glazes to life.
 
Clay stimulates me precisely because of its mystery, because the space for surprise is so much greater, especially in the powerful transformation that occurs when the works are fired in the kiln. When the kiln is opened, I can discover if what I had proposed in the damp and malleable clay was capable of surviving the timeless test of fire. There is something about the contrasting brutality of the final result that is compelling.
 
Working with clay becomes a ritual. Just like when one is in a trance, the hand moves more quickly than the mind; it does and undoes according to the rhythm. When all of the elements involved mesh together, and each component adapts to its own space, the softness of the clay permits volumes and planes to appear and disappear. As Peter Voulkos himself has declared:
“When you touch clay, it moves, and one has to learn to dance with it.”

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