An immersive residency that invites acclaimed creatives to reinterpret the estate’s profound sense of place has been launched by Graham Beck. Conceived as a celebration of terroir, artistry and the pursuit of excellence, the initiative positions Graham Beck at the intersection of luxury, culture and innovation.
Set against 3 000 hectares of limestone-rich terrain and protected nature reserve, the Artist’s Retreat grants creators full access to the environment that defines Graham Beck’s Cap Classique.
The first chapter in this ongoing series welcomed celebrated multidisciplinary artist Michael Chandler, whose work is revered for its sensitivity to craft, history and materiality. Following a previous collaboration, Chandler returned to the Robertson estate to create a singular piece: a hand-painted ceramic wine egg, realised over three days in the heart of the vineyards.
For Chandler, this meant stepping directly into the landscape to gather his own pigments. Using chalky limestone and decomposed granite sourced from the estate’s vineyards, he transformed the raw earth into delicate colour.
Chandler’s chosen canvas, the ceramic wine egg, is itself an object of design and innovation. Within Graham Beck’s cellar, these eggs serve as fermentation vessels prized for their purity of form and function. Their smooth curvature encourages a natural circulation of wine, while the porous ceramic allows gentle oxygen exchange – both techniques revered for shaping texture with elegance and restraint.
The completed ceramic wine egg now resides within the estate’s Innovation Cellar – a sanctuary devoted to exploration and the future of Cap Classique.
