The Creation of The Golden Vines® Baton

Alain Ducasse and Akrame Benallal (The 2023 Golden Vines® Awards Chefs in Paris, France), and Joan Roca (one of The 2024 Golden Vines® Awards Chef in Madrid, Spain) with The Golden Vines® Baton – The 2023 Golden Vines® Awards Ceremony & Dinner at The Palais Garnier in Paris, France | © Liquid Icons

One of the highlights of The Golden Vines® Awards is the passing of the baton from country to country as we announce our next incredible location. It’s a nod to the great ceremonies of history, harking back to the days of the Roman senate, and our way of creating a moment to celebrate what’s gone while also looking to the future. 

In the words of The Golden Vines® Co-Founder Lewis Chester, ‘Until the passing of the baton the next destination is a total surprise. We wanted something that would provide a fitting finale to the incredible three days that preceded The Awards, and give the announcement a real sense of occasion. It’s symbolic of the best in their fields coming together; the best food, the best wines, the best chefs, and of course the best locations.’

Dario Nardella (Mayor of Florence), Loïc Pasquet of Liber Pater (2023 Golden Vines® Awards Ceremony & Dinner Gala Fine Wine Sponsor) and Akrame Benallal (one of The 2023 Golden Vines® Awards Chefs in Paris, France) with The Golden Vines® Baton – The 2022 Golden Vines® Awards Ceremony & Dinner at The Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy | © Liquid Icons

To date, the honors have been performed by some of the best in their field. With Mauro Colagreco, our three Michelin-starred 2021 Golden Vines® Awards Chef passing the culinary estafette from London to Florence, our Baton was first handed to Massimo Bottura who in turn passed it to Alain Ducasse and Akrame – The 2023 Golden Vines® Chefs with three and two Michelin Stars respectively – and then to Juan Roca, our 2024 Golden Vines® Chef and the mastermind behind the three Michelin-starred El Celler de Can Roca – as we announced our next destination, Madrid. Given The Golden Vines® Baton is destined to find its way into the hands of some of the world’s best chefs, it needs to be a thing of incredible significance, weight and beauty. There are no better people for the job than London silversmith’s Grant McDonald, who have built an international reputation for outstanding work, creating pieces for some of the world’s most discerning clients, including the Royal Family. They are also behind the beautiful Golden Vines® Trophy.

Mauro Colagreco (The 2021 Golden Vines® Awards Chef), The Golden Vines® Awards Ceremony & Dinner at Annabel’s Private Members’ Club) | © Liquid Icons

‘When the idea of The Baton was presented to us, we just jumped at the chance and produced some designs right away. I love the idea of passing The Baton on’, said George McDonald, who runs the business alongside his father, and so understandably knows a thing or two himself about the importance of legacy.

It was a relationship founded on fine wine…and football. ‘Our journey with The Golden Vines Awards goes back to a quick intro meeting with Lewis Chester at our London workshop, just as we were all coming out of the lockdown in early 2021. With his passion for fine wine and love of Arsenal FC (my team as well) I knew we could work together. Lewis explained the concept of The Awards and his grand idea to create this instantly recognisable trophy in the shape of a champagne cork. I loved his enthusiasm and his desire to create something so iconic’.

However, creating such a piece was never going to be easy, but both parties relished the challenge. The aim was to produce something that had an almost antique look to it, summoning a sense of heritage and timelessness. As with all Grant McDonald pieces, The Baton was created using a mixture of traditional silversmithing and modern, cutting edge technology. ‘We worked closely with Lewis on the concept, then put together a series of designs which were tweaked until we got to the final look. We have three designers here at Grant Macdonald, plus one freehand illustrative designer, then two CAD designers who can create photorealistic renders, so Lewis, Sasha and the rest of the team could see almost exactly how the piece was going to look before we even started.’

The Golden Vines®️ Baton | ©️ Grant Macdonald

In the end, it was decided that the best representation would be a sleekly beautiful Baton of dark grey silver, tarnished through a process of oxidisation to give it a deeper hue, circled in 24 carat gold plated vines. The main structure was designed in CAD and built on a 3D printer. This was then taken into the workshop, where the piece was sanded over to a perfect flat finish and the details of the vines were then added by hand. After this, The Baton was silver plated, then another craftsman hand painted out the parts to remain silver and then gold plated with 24ct gold. The piece was then polished by hand and gold leaf was added to the logos at either end of The Baton.

And how does it feel to see your work being held by chefs who have been awarded a veritable galaxy of Michelin stars? ‘It’s amazing,’ said George. ‘My wife and I have been at all three Awards Ceremonies so far and apart from the fact they are truly mind-blowing wine events, seeing the winemakers receive their trophies and then the baton getting passed on is so rewarding. It’s an honour to be involved in The Golden Vines® Awards each year and I’m grateful to know Lewis and work with the whole team each year and hope to for many years to come.’

In fact, The Baton was so beautiful it almost didn’t make it back to London this year. After the ceremony The Baton disappeared, and after much searching it was feared lost. Luckily, a simple explanation arose. In the whirlwind of revelry that followed The Awards, The Baton had been given to Juan Roca’s brother for safekeeping, who mistakenly took it back to Madrid with him. In a fitting end to the story, it was finally collected some weeks later at a Michelin dinner in Burgundy. It would seem The Baton has a way of finding its way into the hands of gourmands!

To indulge in the culinary magic of The Roca Brothers at The 2024 Golden Vines® Awards in Madrid, Spain during 25-27 October 2024, please request an invitation to purchase tickets by joining The 2024 Waiting List: https://liquidicons.com/the-2024-golden-vines-awards-in-madrid-spain-waiting-list