Leo Hillinger presents an iconic wine with packaging created by an icon herself. On October 4th of this year, at the Albertina in Vienna, Austrian winemaker Leo Hillinger unveiled his exceptional red wine blend, the 2009 Icon Hill in a precious bottle and box created by Pritzker-winning architect Zaha Hadid.
"With the unique design and the ICON HILL is optimally presented. Powerful and intense it is drawn from the creation in its spell. Zaha has perfectly embodied in the wine bottle shape."-- Leo Hillinger
Zaha Hadid, above, says of the design:
"The elongated volume of the bottle has been derived from the profile of liquid droplets. A continuous spatial curve was then projected onto the bottle’s surface, defining areas for the concave indentation and suggesting the waves created when droplets break a liquid’s surface.
The concave indentation and the bottle’s surface have the same curvature, enabling a set of bottles to interlock and be perceived as singular whole. A smaller indent and volume has been created at the base of the bottle for correct handling and to accommodate any tartrates.
To achieve the precision and accuracy required for production, the shape of the bottle was created using NURB-based CAD software. The bottle manufacturer directly implemented this 3D master geometry to produce the cast iron moulds for the glass forming process."
The Reviews
If you are wondering whether or not the wine is as good as the bottle, it has received a rating of 95/100 from Falstaff, the ultimate Austrian wine guide.
Falstaff chief Peter Moser who tasted the wine in advance and gave the following critique:
"Deep ruby garnet with purple hues, subtle edge whitening. In the nose with fine Kräuterwürze backed mature heart cherry fruit, a hint of dark berries, spices in the background and nuances of fine wood, a delicate hint of nougat, multifaceted bouquet that develops well with air. On the palate, complex, extraktsüße dark fruit, prominent and well-integrated tannins that give the wine length, hints of blackberries and ripe plums, pleasant acidity that for vitality provides, salty minerality on the finish holds good, disposes of secure aging potential, fine cherry fruit in Rückgeschmack. If one were to fully enjoy this wine at this youthful stage, it is advisable to decant the bottle for a good two hours." (optimum eating ripeness 2016 - 2030)
and from René Gabriel:
"The color is a deep dark red with black core. On the nose the wine is fresh, cool and seems so very precise, fruit and seasoning are very harmonious with black berry fruit, smoky Brazil tobacco, licorice and black pepper. ICON HILL displays a beautiful concentration. On the palate it is creamy, with dark caramel, prunes and ripe, balanced tannins stützende. This is not a wine that comes as a new multi-bomb wine, but considered his future and first in terms of class and harmony. Its beautiful balance we must here assume a potential that is loose and overheating of the first 10 years. His most beautiful ripe to eat I expect in about three to four years."
Only 999 bottles of ICON HILL are available. The ICON HILL is available at 99 euros per bottle in all Leo Hillinger retailers and online www.leo-hillinger.at.