Artwork by Sam Allerton Green Helps Define New Wine Collection at Sakonnet Vineyard

Where the bluest sky meets the greenest grass, Sam Allerton Green has set up his easel. About 10 feet ahead, tidy rows of grapevines are parted into paths, each revealing peeks of the intense blue of the Sakonnet River and the darker green landscape beyond. The location is Sakonnet Vineyard, and Green is there on a warm mid-summer evening. It’s about 6:30pm, and sunset is still a ways off, but with each passing moment, the light changes. Green’s paint palette and mixing tray are clamped to the easel, and he calmly dips bristles into pigments, muddling and mixing to capture the fleeting moment. “You’ll never get it right,” says Green, as he works to translate the verdant hue he sees onto the canvas, even though to onlookers, it’s a match.

Allerton is an abstract landscape painter based in Providence. He works primarily in oils and enjoys painting outdoors, or en plein air. In addition to participating in workshops and gallery shows, his work appears on five of Sakonnet Vineyard’s seven newly introduced wines, the first complete portfolio made at Sakonnet from start to finish under the management of married team James Davids and Marissa Stashenko. “These wines represent a new direction for the vineyard, not only in the winemaking, but for the brand as a whole,” says Stashenko, director of operations. “Our goal was for each bottle to feel beautiful and distinctive, while still feeling connected as a collection. We wanted the artwork on each label to evoke something about the character of the wine – its personality, energy, and sense of place – without being too literal. Sam’s work has so much personality, especially with his use of color, which made it a natural fit for what we were trying to express with this collection.”

For Green, being approached to have his work appear on the collection was an easy yes. “I think it’s a no-brainer when locals want to work with locals,” he says. His artwork can be found on bottles of Blaufrånkisch, Coteaux, Early Harvest, Estate Vidal Blanc, and Patchwork; the remaining two new labels are by Newport artist Kristin Stashenko, who works in gouache and acrylics. The new seven stand out from the existing labels, which are branded simply with text and the logo on a white background. Green didn’t create artwork specifically for Sakonnet; instead, they got to browse his library. “I often paint from life, but I focus more on color and shape, rather than the subject itself. The painting can often remain somewhat ambiguous; this allows the viewer to insert themselves into the less defined parts of the painting,” says Green. Once Stashenko made her selections, Green sent her the high-end JPEGS for production.

For Stashenko, her personal favorite label is Green’s painting of Cliff Walk, which appears on their bottle of Blaufränkisch. “One of the things I love most about living in Rhode Island is being surrounded by the water and coastline, so I was immediately drawn to that piece. Blaufränkisch is also one of the wines I find most interesting in the collection, both because of how well the grape is showing that it can grow here in New England and because of the wine itself.” She describes the medium-bodied red as earthy and rich, but still versatile and food-friendly. “There’s something about the mood and depth of Cliff Walk that feels like a really natural match for the wine, and it also captures a sense of place that feels distinctly Rhode Island.”

When Green is live-painting at the 169-acre estate, he says that morning and late evening offer the light he’s most interested in. “It’s warm and crisp; the shadows are long. And finding a space that maybe doesn’t scream vineyard, but offers some subtle clues as to where we are.” His portfolio is vast and filled with vivid gestures from places like Collioure, France, Wexford, Ireland, and close to his home in the College Hill neighborhood, where he lives with his wife and their two children. “It sounds so silly, but I often just wander until I find something that stops me. It’s not always something beautiful, but maybe it has some interesting relationships of weird shapes or color.” And where is his favorite place to paint? “Honestly, I get this question all the time, and the best answer is any place with parking, a bathroom, and a good sandwich nearby,” he says with a chuckle. “Ultimately, it’s not what you paint, it’s how you paint.” Learn more at SakonnetWine.com and follow the artist along on Instagram at @samallertongreen.