New Two-Pack: Donum - A Study in Artistic Patronage
Winery as investment can go one of two ways: form over function disaster or, great talent supported by an infusion of capital. Donum’s story follows the latter. The winery was begun by Anne Moller-Racke in 2001; the original holdings and current nucleus span 200 acres in Carneros. Anne had been working in the valley since the mid 1990s; she founded Donum with the intent of creating sustainably farmed, single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The project caught the eye and palate of Danish businessman Allan Warburg and his wife Mei – who met and live in China - and they began collecting the wines. Allan’s brother is a wine importer in Denmark, when Donum was listed for sale, he alerted Allan and Mei; the couple closed on the property in 2011. The couple never had designs on being winemakers, rather, they are stewards of the winery and the land that supports it. As with all good patrons throughout history, the Warburgs facilitate the winemaking team to continue making regenerative-organic, terroir-focused wines. Along the way, the art-loving couple embarked on an artistic project of giant proportions: The Donum Collection - one of the largest private sculpture collections in the world. The Collection includes works by Ai Wiewie, Louise Bourgeois, and Yayoi Kusama.
