Zabo ChabilanD
CUVÉE MARIE-LOUISE
Autumn sound installation
2024
Journées Européennes du Patrimoine 2024 - Troglodytes et Sarcophages - Doué en Anjou
The “Cuvée Marie-Louise” installation presents one of the essential stages in the winemaking process: alcoholic fermentation. This biochemical process releases energy in the form of carbon dioxide, causing a growing effervescence until the must reaches an intermediate stage, neither grape juice nor wine, an ephemeral, lively beverage known, depending on the region, as ‘bernache’, ‘bourru’ or ‘paradis’. Then comes deflation: calm returns when the yeasts have completely transformed the sugars into alcohol. Alcoholic fermentation is then complete, and a new stage begins naturally.
During the 2024 harvest, the Cuvée Marie-Louise sound installation will be produced and presented in three European wine-growing regions: Tejo in Portugal, Anjou in France and Ahr in Germany.
During the alcoholic fermentation of each harvest, sound sensors will transmit live the power of the ‘work’ of a natural wine in the making. The carbon dioxide will slide down the glass walls, rushing into the pipes immersed in the water-filled containers, allowing the gas to escape into the open air while keeping the organism anaerobic. The installation could be compared to a wind instrument, in which every Demi-John depending on its size and shape, is a note that escapes ad infinitum.