Look Inside a Huge, CBD Pop-Up Installation Exploring Art and Wine
Wander into The Stoneleigh Project to discover the world of wild fermentation.
In partnership with 
After taking over an abandoned hotel in Sydney last year with overgrown flora, creeping vines and moss-covered furnishings, Stoneleigh moves to Melbourne this year, opening the doors of its new project, The Stoneleigh Project. The project invites the public to explore the winemaking and wild fermentation processes and to taste the New Zealand winery's range of Wild Valley wines. Through a series of meticulously designed rooms and installations channelling nature's elements, you'll be met with an immersive walkthrough of New Zealand's Marlborough region where Stoneleigh is produced. You'll also find numerous wine tasting stations, which have been paired with unique, interactive experiences inside each room — feel a river rush by as you enter, interact with bubbles that turn to smoke when touched. All five senses have been considered as the installation introduces visitors to Stoneleigh's world of wild fermentation through natural sites taken from Marlborough, textures from the Stoneleigh riverbeds, sounds of the river lapping at the shore, wafts of Wild Valley sauvignon blanc and, of course, flavours of the winemaker's signature wild fermented wines.
Take a look inside.
THE RIVERBED WALKWAY
Putting you in the heart of a flowing river, the riverbed walkway symbolises the birthplace of Stoneleigh's vineyards, north of the Marlborough region. Today, the vineyards are paved with ancient river stones from the Wairau — New Zealand's longest river. The river snakes through the fertile plains of the region, making it an important, life-giving force at the vineyards. The stones capture the warmth of the sunlight during the day and remain warm during the cold Malborough nights, heating the vines and allowing the grapes to continue ripening.
LIGHTSCAPE OF ENERGY
As you make your way to the next room, you'll be greeted by a sunny lightscape, drawing on the fuel and energy the sun brings to the Marlborough region and the important role it plays in warming the river stones. You're encouraged to experiment and play with the various mirrors on the floor and walls to make the light bend and refract around the room. You're also prompted to step onto the plinths washed with light. Here you can photograph your own view of the lightscape as the raised sections produce unusual lighting and shadow effects.
A LOOK INSIDE PINOT NOIR
Acclaimed Berlin artist Susi Sie is the brains behind this particular installation. Creating a fascinating visual piece for the installation, Sie zooms in on Stoneleigh's Wild Valley Pinot Noir and brings to life the textures and complexity that wild fermentation produces. The fermentation process is enlarged under a microscope and displayed as a hypnotic visualisation.
THE WILD FERMENTATION ROOM
Playfully calling upon the natural wild yeast in Stoneleigh's fermentation process, this room is filled with bubbles — which you're encouraged to pop. When touched, the misty bubbles burst into a cloud, showing just how spontaneous the winemaking process was before modern intervention. The lighting changes colour and the speed and volume of the bubbles will increase or decrease depending on the number of people interacting with the display. A single wall plaque credits the main artist of the room: Nature.
THE SECRET DINING ROOM
An intriguing part of the installation is the secret dining room hidden behind a one-way mirror, allowing you to see into the space, but not out. Created for special events, the dining room will be transformed into a meeting point of the four elements as we host two exclusive dinners on October 26. Our 'Four Elements' wine tasting and dinner invites 12 of our readers (and their plus ones) to drink and dine with us in an exclusive experience featuring a menu specially curated by head chef Tim Newitt of Collingwood's Project Forty Nine. To snag your seat, enter our competition here.
THE WINE BAR
Finally, at the culmination of the exhibition, there's a rustic, leafy wine bar: a cellar door experience in which you can sit back with a glass of Wild Valley wild fermented wine and a charcuterie platter. If you're strapped for time, you can purchase a bottle of Stoneleigh to take home and enjoy.
Find The Stoneleigh Project at 524 Flinders Street, Melbourne from October 13 until November 5; 4pm - 10pm Monday to Friday and 12pm - 10pm Saturday and Sunday.
Images: Chris Middleton.
