In June 2010 Monte Vibiano launched the “Green Wine Bar”, serving Monte Vibiano’s famous zero emission wines in a cozy and eco-friendly environment just meters away from the farm’s wine cellar.
Surrounded by spectacular views and immersed in the Umbrian countryside the “Green Wine Bar” is a refined marriage between nature and design created with recycled materials by Monte Carlo interior designer Maryam Shams, wife of Monte Vibiano’s CEO Lorenzo Fasola Bologna.
Maryam, who has worked in the past with Philippe Starck – one of the world’s most famous designers – has built a long counter of chestnut wood and hundreds of unused corks which for years had been left in a corner at Monte Vibiano’s historic wine cellar and almost forgotten about. Maryam started from such modest materials and gave the unused corks a new life. Dozen of corks also fill the upper part of the barrique (wooden barrels) placed around the counter.
In an effort to keep in line with the company’s recycling ideals, Maryam used leftover material gathered from the cutting of Monte Vibiano woods to build the bar tables.
“My goal was to recycle existing wood and turn it into completely different objects. I had lots of fun transforming the barrels into something essential like the bar tables”, said Maryam.
The wall is decorated like a mosaic, with hundreds of round discs made of old, recycled wood. “The inspiration for the wall’s design came to me from the miniatures in Persian art” explains the designer.
The farm’s fotovoltaic solar panels provide clean energy for lighting the bar, making it completely energy-efficient. These are the same solar panels that allow Monte Vibiano to be a zero greenhouse emissions farm, the first in Italy and one of the first in the world to produce a negative amount of greenhouse gases.
At the end of 2008 Monte Vibiano produced -700 tons of CO2, as certified by DNV, one of the world’s leading certification bodies, which handed Monte Vibiano its first ISO 14064, attesting to the company’s eco-sustainable efforts.
The “Green Wine Bar” is an exclusive place to sip Monte Vibiano’s refined wines in a quiet environment, tasting local Umbrian food like bruschetta seasoned with Monte Vibiano’s delicious frozen olive oil; it is a perfect choice for that special date or to unwind at the end of a long work day.
The bar is also part of Monte Vibiano’s eco-tours and a chance to relax after a visit of the estate on board electric vehicles.
For further information about Maryam Shams’ designs: www.maryam-shams.com
