Libby’s Naked Diary: How I created a limited edition wine with amazing artist Nigel Stefani
MY FRIEND, Nigel Stefani, is the least likely looking ‘Nigel’ you could meet. A muscular, tattooed, shaven-headed chap, invariably dressed in all-black with smoky black eyeliner and a dusky melodic voice. I picked him up at The Bike Shed, a biker bar in Shoreditch, one New Year’s Eve.
Platonically that is, though my opening line had admittedly been rather risqué. Following up with a lunch at the Groucho Club we discussed the similarities between his world of Art and mine of Wine. For example, both are subjective and take time to produce. “Wine can taste different on different days and in different glasses and it’s the same with art,” said Stefani. “The experience is completely individual and it takes a bit of magic to create both”.
We decided to launch a limited-edition wine together, with wine from his brother’s vineyard in Italy and in bottles designed by Stefani, which we called “Lady and the Vamp”. It sold out in under six weeks. Our logo, two inverted drops mirroring each other, one white like a tooth and one red like wine, or blood, is now tattooed on his neck as a physical reminder of our partnership.
He had invited me to his studio to see a new commission he had finished the day before, and as our own wine had been Italian, I selected Stefano di Blasi’s stunning Poggio di Guardia 2019 (Naked Wines, £62.99; Angel Price, £19.99) to toast the completed work. Stefani described his art as “drawings that are like 2D sculptures and sculptures that are like 3D drawings”.
Known for his visually impactful black and white portraits, Stefani told me why he enjoys working on them so much. “There’s no such thing as a 2D person,” he said. “There’s loads that people don’t say and get bashful about and I like to be able to allow them to bring that to the surface”. His works contain layered, hidden images and messages about the person or project he observes. “The inside on the open is my motto,” he adds. “It’s a line from a naked Libby’s Diary song by Agnes Obel that immediately struck a chord with me”.
His latest piece was a commission from Neil Bookatz, owner of an art flat on the Strand full of wall-to-wall photographs of Andy Warhol, which he sells from this private gallery space. There is one photo of Warhol holding up the transparency of Marilyn Monroe before he had ever done anything with it. It is a capture of a fleeting pre-iconic moment, and it was this that Stefani had been tasked with transforming into artwork. I cannot reveal the image (it would be unfair given the owner hasn’t seen it yet) but it is remarkable.
I opened the wine, pouring a glass each for haste’s sake before allowing the rest to breathe. Rather perfectly for the setting, it was a dark, brooding wine, full of strength and power with smooth, structured tannins that unwound over time under bursts of blueberries and wood spice.
We drank companionably, me on a stained but comfy armchair and him on an incongruous office chair, as Stefani concluded: “I’ve always been an artist. People are born with creativity within them and it’s up to how you see the world. I used to think ‘artist’ was a title I had to earn, but I don’t believe that now. It’s how I communicate best”. We drank to that.
- nigelstefani.com; insta: @nigelstefani
A NAKED PAIRING:Quevedo Radianxte 2023 x Mondays
WHEN I’ve had a long day, and that long day is at the start of a long week, I like to open up a bottle of wine and pour a glass to signify the end of the working day. If tomorrow is looking just as long, I also want to ensure a good night’s rest and a clear head in the morning. Enter this lovely little spritzy bottle of Quevedo Radiante 2023 (Naked Wines, £10.99; Angel Price, £8.99) from Portuguese winemaker Oscar Quevedo. The exotic sounding Azal grape produces a beautifully aromatic, delightfully light wine with a fresh tongue-tingling spritz to lift any mood.
It is also a handy 9% abv so a lower alcohol option, meaning you can enjoy it without any concern of feeling fuzzy the next day. It’s an ideal chilled aperitif for when you walk through the door but also wonderful when paired with lightly fried calamari, grilled fish or a crunchy salad.
For me, it had been the kind of day where even cooking something up in the kitchen seemed a bit much, so I got straight on the app for my favourite local Japanese and ordered up a load of sashimi. The wine has a bright citrus acidity yet is delicate enough to compliment the fish perfectly. An instant mood uplift in a bottle and a rather satisfying start to the week.