Pasqua Presents QuattroMani with Charles Smith and the Immersive Installation Resonance

Verona, April 13, 2026 - Pasqua Wines, the Verona-based winery renowned for its iconic, award-winning wines, marked Vinitaly 2026—one of the world’s leading wine and spirits exhibitions, taking place in Verona from April 12–15—by unveiling QuattroMani, a groundbreaking multivintage Pinot Noir crafted in collaboration with acclaimed American winemaker Charles Smith. In parallel, the winery presented Resonance, an immersive, site-specific art installation by Italian artist Sara Ricciardi, celebrating creativity, dialogue, and collaboration—the same values that inspired QuattroMani.

A Transatlantic Partnership Eight Years in the Making

Born from a shared desire to challenge convention, QuattroMani—Italian for “four hands”—is the result of years of dialogue between two distinct wine cultures, each remaining true to its roots while embracing collaboration. The wine embodies Pasqua’s promise to deliver a radically new interpretation of Pinot Noir, drawn from an extraordinary vineyard and a spirit of continuous experimentation.

The drive to do something new begins at the source. Planting Pinot Noir in Valpolicella was a daring move, revolutionary for the region and essential to shaping the project’s personality. The clay-rich soils (up to 50 percent), constant breeze, high elevation, and marked day–night temperature swings combine to give the wine a bright tension, purity, and depth all its own.

QuattroMani represents an encounter of visions, languages, and landscapes, opening a new chapter in Pasqua’s story. Since 2025, the Verona-based estate has also served as the exclusive global distributor of the House of Smith portfolio—including K Vintners, Sex, and Real Wine—with Pasqua also holding a minority stake in the latter.

This collaboration brings together the Old World and the New in a symbolic handshake: on one side, a vineyard in Valpolicella, steeped in tradition and craftsmanship; on the other, a winemaking philosophy driven by the expressive fruit of Washington State. True to its name, QuattroMani is not simply a sum of experiences but a singular co-creation, bridging two worlds and blending Valpolicella’s historical depth with Washington’s instinctive energy.

The roots of QuattroMani reach back eight years, when Pasqua first began cultivating Pinot Noir in Valpolicella. In 2021, conversations with Charles Smith gave new shape to the idea. The American winemaker fell for the Campiano vineyard at first sight, recognizing its potential as the ideal setting for the Old World experimentation he had long sought. From their initial tastings of the 2018 base wines, Charles Smith and Riccardo Pasqua developed the concept of a multivintage blend—an approach that allowed both creative flexibility and expressive precision.

Located above San Giovanni Ilarione at roughly 2,000 feet, the nine-hectare Campiano vineyard benefits from a climate and soil that support high-quality Pinot Noir production. The clay-limestone soils, formed from ancient marine beds, provide excellent drainage on the steep slopes. Twenty- to thirty-year-old vines face southwest, capturing afternoon light and translating it into finesse and depth. A surrounding forest moderates the climate, fostering a cool, airy microenvironment. Broad temperature swings between day and night stretch the growing season, heighten aromas, and yield a wine defined by elegance, precision, and lift.

“Innovation cannot merely be declared—it must be demonstrated through projects. QuattroMani is our answer to that promise,” said Riccardo Pasqua, CEO of Pasqua Wines, as he described the genesis of the project. “Charles Smith—his vision, his freedom from preconception, and his dedication to quality—has always been a source of inspiration. For a project this unconventional, revolutionary from its roots, he was the natural partner. His mastery of Pinot Noir, combined with our expertise in multivintage blending, has produced something we could never have created alone.”

“I accepted the challenge because I saw the opportunity to do something that had never been done before, fully aware that collaborations can be complex,” added Charles Smith. “When you work without preconceptions, interesting things always happen. QuattroMani is pure energy: a Pinot Noir that doesn’t seek to imitate anyone, but simply to be authentic. It takes Old World depth and pushes it toward something more immediate, alive, accessible.”

The First Edition of QuattroMani

The first edition of QuattroMani is complex, layered, and lively. Its aromas reveal spice and fresh herbal notes, while the palate is bright and fresh, with tannins that provide structure without being rigid or overpowering. This wine is a blend of the 2018, 2022, 2023, and 2025 harvests. Hand-picked grapes are gently crushed and destemmed, followed by a brief cold maceration of about two hours. Fermentation takes place at 20–22°C (68–72°F), with three to four punch-downs per day. After two days, the seeds are removed to prevent excessive astringency. After roughly 20 days, the wine is racked: one part is aged in French oak tonneaux for two years, while another part rests in barriques for one year. All barrels are lightly toasted and of first use. Each component then spends two to three months in stainless steel before being blended and bottled. QuattroMani has an aging potential of around ten years, offering a wine that is both immediate and capable of developing further complexity over time.

Resonance: The Art That Mirrors the Wine

The QuattroMani project also inspired Resonance, a site-specific installation by Italian artist Sara Ricciardi, on view at Palazzo Maffei in Verona from April 10 to 14. Conceived as the completion of the narrative initiated by the wine, Ricciardi’s artistic creation interprets the encounter between Pasqua Wines and Charles Smith as something that goes beyond collaboration—it expresses the value of wholeness.

The installation unfolds as an immersive experience, staging a dialogue between distinct visions. At its heart stands a monumental geode, a four-meter-tall hollow rock form lined with crystals, splitting open to reveal a landscape of light and sound—a fracture that doesn’t divide but creates. Variations in light evoke the cyclical rhythm of nature and the breathing of the vineyard, while the shifting reflections across its surfaces mirror the dialogue between the two creative visions that inspired the project.

For Pasqua Wines, the installation represents the completion of the story told by QuattroMani: an artistic metaphor that reflects the union of creativity, research, and authenticity at the core of the project.

Over the last decade, the winery has communicated its values and wine innovations through a free, original, and unconventional artistic language, investing in the talent and creativity of emerging voices on the contemporary scene. This new installation continues that commitment, giving visibility to the project created by Sara Ricciardi and her studio, which was selected through an open call launched earlier this year that attracted over 200 applications from artists worldwide.

Together, QuattroMani and Resonance form Pasqua’s most ambitious expression yet of the idea that art and wine share a common language of imagination and experimentation—a dialogue that transforms innovation into experience.

PASQUA VIGNETI E CANTINE, founded in 1925, is a Veronese wine company owned by the Pasqua family, celebrating its first 100 years of activity. Internationally recognized as a producer and ambassador of prestigious wines from Italy’s Veneto region, the company’s ambition is to carry forward a century of winemaking expertise into the future through a renewed stylistic vision. Today, President Umberto Pasqua leads the company alongside his sons: Riccardo Pasqua, CEO; Alessandro Pasqua, Vice President North America; and Andrea Pasqua, Head of Business Development. With the third generation actively involved in the company, Pasqua has evolved into the House of the Unconventional—a research-driven laboratory and a space for dialogue, where quality and creativity take center stage. In its centenary year, Pasqua has been selected by winemaker Charles Smith as the global distributor of the House of Smith portfolio, including K Vintners, Sex, and Real Wine, in which Pasqua also holds a minority stake. Also in 2025, the Veronese winery invested in the Pantelleria-based wine project of actress and international style icon Carole Bouquet, acquiring an ownership stake and combining enological vision with the preservation of the island’s cultural heritage.

HOUSE OF SMITH, founded in 1999 in Washington State, is owned by winemaker Charles Smith. Built from selling 330 cases of K Syrah 1999 from the back of an Astro van, House of Smith has grown to become one of North America’s most critically acclaimed producers, with over 325 scores of 95 points or higher and more than 1,450 scores of 90 points or higher. Its brands—including House Wine, Kung Fu Girl, K Vintners, and Wines of Substance—represent the best-selling Washington State wines in history, surpassed only by Chateau Ste. Michelle.

SARA RICCIARDI is a Milan-based designer, artist, and creative director, whose practice spans product design, performance, interiors, and large-scale installations. She studied Product Design in Milan, Istanbul, and New York, and in 2016 founded her own studio, Pataspazio, in Milan. Her work emerges from deep narrative exploration, where each project stems from a unique story. As Ricciardi affirms, “If Sullivan said form follows function, for me, form follows poetry.” Combining craftsmanship with conceptual design, she collaborates closely with master Italian artisans, exploring materials and techniques to turn spaces into emotional narratives. A collector of eclectic objects, she also practices Ikebana and Butoh dance, channeling interdisciplinary influences into her creative outlook. Ricciardi is also an educator in Social Design and Relational Practices at NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) and at international universities, where she leads participatory co-design programs. These initiatives activate local communities and promote collaborative, sustainable design processes that transform ideas into projects of tangible social impact.