Press Release

Taittinger Collection
Amadou Sow
Taittinger Brut Millésimé 2002
Evening in Africa, emotions and movements swirl upwards to the starstudded sky. It reminds me of champagne.
Thirty years ago, during my first travels when working for our house, I
discovered Africa and I fell immediately, passionately in love, I drank it
in; perhaps I understood it. I certainly dreamed it.
In Africa I discovered the largest poetry mine in the world. The original continent observes us and from its rivers pours forth the raw salt
of life, love and death. The humus of the world in all its purity, gigantic,
strange, profound, violent as its art, tender as a child on his mother’s
back.
The importance of water, of fabrics, of cloths, of colours and of those
black hands which time and the wind consume with hope.
The hands of Amadou Sow, which have touched the 12th edition of the
Taittinger Collection, give us a small taste of this wonderful universe. A
magnificent trail over the A of the African soul.
Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger
President of Champagne Taittinger
Why Amadou Sow ?
For over twenty years, at the behest of the Taittinger family, I have guided and advised
for the Collection by discovering the artists and then by taking part in their work and in
their publication.
The choice of each artist was a matter for profound consideration and complicity. These
choices seem obvious when, now and since 1985, we have always looked at the quality of
their work, their originality, their cultural and artistic identity to make sure they came up
to the expectations of the public but also of the Taittinger Collection.
But this collection has become the richest and the most important in the world, which
means that the choice and the works were both intense and difficult. The arrival of Amadou
Sow, the African, is, in my experience, both the most difficult and the most accomplished.
But if it had not been for four eminent «contributor-provocateurs», I would never have
been to seek out my companion Sow in 2007 in his native Senegal where I discovered
his early work in 1971.
The first – the undisputed master and the censor.
In the winter of 1972, in Notre Dame de Vie, Pablo Picasso hastily sketched a champagne
bottle label with a knife and a pencil. He added, «We could paint one, like pottery». The
idea was there, but the time was not ripe.
During this discussion it was decided that he would observe and study the Senegalese
paintings to choose only the poster of the masts and walls of Paris for that famous, historic
exhibition at the Grand Palais «Contemporary Senegalese Art», in the spring of 1974, the
first great spring for contemporary African art.
«There you are, here’s your poster,» he said to me. «It’s the best painting and I’m keeping
it. Your champagne is a French flag, and this one will be the flag of Black Africa. It’s beautiful.» And we added, «His poster will be the ideal replacement for the ‘Banania’ smile.»
It’s impossible to forget this historic discovery and the huge affection for Amadou Sow
by the Catalan artist who seeks and who was not mistaken.
The second important contributor is the poet, thinker and statesman, Léopold Sedon
Senghor. The charm of a Universal civilisation in the footsteps of Pierre Teilhard du
Chardin, lovingly seeking any aesthetic emotion, going so far as to quote even Cincinatus
for his cultivation of vines, he knows the Taittinger Collection well. There he met his artist
friends, who illustrated his own poetry: Helena Vieira Da Silva, Hans Hartung, André
Masson and Zao Wu Ki. I had the honour of working with him as a diplomat but also as
a friend to direct his publications. When I brought him the bottle painted by Vieira Da
Silva, among the letters where he comments on the beauty of the work, he came forward
with his usual enthusiasm and strong determination: «The Lusitanian was a fine choice,
just like the German, but you must not forget Africa, it is your duty to make our Black
Africa a part of these cultural concerts, you must find artists from all the continents.»
By the time the third provocateur came along, the idea was firmly fixed in our minds.
With the infinite subtleness characteristic of Zao Wu Ki the first Chinese artist and his
first friend in France, the lesson was kind but almost imperative. In the studio on the rue
Jouffray, with his Taittinger bottle placed against a white wall flecked like a wash painting,
he concentrated on the values of the colours of his composition and then added a yellow
circle, like the sun. «There, it’s finished. This yellow against the southern-style pale-green
china background, that looks good.» There followed a long silence. Then with his own
particular, frank roar of laughter, he exclaimed, «Now you have your Chinaman. You’ve
done your round-the-world trip of artists. You’ve got America, Europe from top to bottom, Japan. Careful, you’ll be going round in circles. No. What do you mean, no? There’s
still Africa. You know that!»
The fourth is more than just a musketeer. He is an organiser and wears the robe of the
great decision maker. After Monsieur Claude Taittinger who decided the fate of the first
ten works in the Collection, it was now up to the CEO, Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, to
choose the new bottles with the same strict selection and in the same family spirit. And
immediately, faithful to the post, breathing new life into the project, he asked me «to
broaden our field of vision, to think of the Other, to build a more universal collection,
open to all cultures.» Africa became the obvious choice at last.
With these four pillars and mentors, the Taittinger Collection had at last become a temple. The task of finding the right African for their Collection was already a fait accompli.
Amadou Sow, the Senegalese artist chosen by Pablo Picasso who together with L. Senghor turned him into the «man of the masts of Paris», that outstanding artist from the
Dakar school, that celebrity from the Viennese Academy, the faithful interpreter of the
myths and beauties of Black Africa has now become part of the Collection. His mastery
of the techniques and the wealth of his sources of inspiration, his mystic resurgences
from the realm of childhood, his deep-set roots, his Sahelian culture, all of these are his
strengths and the reasons underlying his choice and the support of the whole Taittinger
world, also the creators. This is the story of a choice rich in events as well as emotions, as
so often happens with a beautiful work of art, both poetry and painting.
Gérard Bosio
« There is no civilization without art »
Born in 1951 in Saint-Louis, Senegal, Amadou Sow grew up on Gorée Island, where he
learned to observe the world around him and from it to draw inspiration. It was thus at
a young age that he developed the foundations of his art, rooted in the soil, the sand and
the rocks; the very materials that gave him self-expression.
Amadou Sow began his artistic career with rock sculptures in the 1970s, turning then
towards rigid and transparent plexiglass, and finally to ceramics. Today, the artist believes
that these phases brought a richness to his artistic universe, along with a “certain openness”
to his painting. Although his now fragile wrists no longer allow him to sculpt, he has
managed to find “a substitute to rock in tinted planes and other solid materials.”
Describing the universe seems to be at the heart of the artist’s mission, as he aims to
convey a message through his paintings. Deeply inspired by Dutch painting, Amadou
Sow seeks to explain mankind’s place at the center of the boundless cosmos: “I love
Dutch painters. They describe, for the most part, the clouds and the sky, and thus
they alternate somber and luminous colours.” The artist transcribes onto the canvas his
perception, sometimes violent, of contrasts and light: to get here, Amadou Sow tried his
hand at what he calls “painting in the light” or aluchromy, which he discovered with his
Goreean friend Souleymane Keita. This new limitless technique, which allows the artist
to color aluminum with special liquid pigments that are applied by brush or feather,
permits him to imagine a different approach to the material.
The artist’s paintings reflect his life, coloured by journeys and encounters. Settled in
Vienna since 1972, where he attended the prestigious and 300-year-old Academy of Fine
Arts, the one who is called “the African” today regularly exhibits his work around the
world. He does not exclude Senegal, to which he returns from time to time to renew his
strength, and to share his passion with young artists.
An ardent environmentalist, in 2005 Amadou Sow founded the Bottle Boys, “an association of artists battling against the waste of plastic, particularly bottles, in Dakar.” His
environmental engagement dates back to his childhood: “my father was involved in the
preservation of forests and water in Saint-Louis. I was born in a forest region. I am very
attached to the land and to greenery.”
Amadou Sow paints concepts rather than naming them: the quest for sense through art
draws him closer to his mentor, the poet Léopold Sedar Senghor, for whom “it is enough
to name something for its meaning to appear under the sign.”
Far away from his motherland, the child of Saint-Louis has chosen to glorify his “Négritude” through his works, to more aptly choose his “Itinerary.”
Taittinger Brut Millésimé 2002.
The 2002 harvest
2002 was marked by low rainfall and a relatively mild winter. The summer was a succession of hot, sunny days.
Shortly before the harvests, the rain arrived but soon disappeared, giving way to sunshine
once more. Unusually for Champagne, instead of growing after the rain, the bunches of
grapes lost weight through lack of water.
After this great harvest lasting from the middle to the end of September, there is no
doubt that 2002 is a good vintage. The first tastings revealed well-rounded, supple, open
and mature wines. The Chardonnays are long, sweet and very aromatic with, according
to the cru, a dominant floral or fruity flavour. The Pinots Noirs are full-bodied, rich and
generous with suggestions of red fruit.
Composition
Champagne Taittinger produces a vintage only when the harvest is of exceptional quality.
And it is only after several years of ageing in the cellars, allowing the aromas slowly to
mature and the length and complexity of the wine to develop, that the precious bottles
are delivered.
Taittinger Brut Millésimé 2002 is a blend of grapes exclusively from the first pressing.
It consists of 50% Chardonnay from the “Grands Crus” of the Côte des Blancs and 50%
Pinot Noir from the “Grands Crus” of the Montagne de Reims and the start of the Vallée
de la Marne.
The exclusive use of juices from the first pressing and their long ageing in the cellars
help the aromas to spread and provide this fine wine with unique length, suppleness and
complexity.
Tasting
The wine is a splendid golden straw colour. The very fine bubbles rise in numerous
strings which spread out to form a fine, persistent necklace.
The nose presents a slightly mineral aroma preceding an intense and delicate fruitiness.
The aromas are of sweet citrus fruits such as clementines associated with subtle suggestions of tea, menthol and liquorice.
The first impression on the palate is strong then quickly full. The mid-palate is rich,
well-rounded and supple with a wide range of fruity and cakey flavours including fresh
apricot and brioche. The finish is long and complex.
In conclusion, Taittinger Brut Millésimé 2002 is a great Champagne offering a rich and
harmonious aromatic palate. Its dominant fruity flavour has remarkable finesse and
elegance.