Hitting the bottle: Las Vegas businessman turning wine into fine art

Thursday, March 14, 2002 | 8:28 a.m.

If you really want to impress someone when you give them a bottle of 1945 Chateau Lafite-Rothschil (which costs about $3,500) or 1900 Chateau d'Yquem ($10,000), you might replace the label with a signed miniature reproduction of a painting by a renowned artist.

Nothing dresses up a fine bottle of wine like a miniature reproduction of a work of art by someone such as local artist Loppo Martinez, whose paintings have sold for as much as $85,000.

In the back room of Wine Art Gallery, a small boutique gallery on Industrial Road, south of Flamingo Road, Roger Palas unites the refined worlds of wine and art collecting.

"The only thing there is more of than artists, is wines," Palas said.

For the past five years he has worked to develop a process that allows him to transpose paintings from canvas onto glass. After perfecting the process, he opened Wine Art Gallery this year.

"Basically, we build a decal onto the bottle," Palas said. The reproduction is on a raised surface, creating the illusion of a small painting on canvas.

Palas says those who want wine-bottle art generally are art and wine collectors.

Rod Maly, for one, is excited about the aesthetic union.

"I'm very enthusiastic," said Maly, director of Art Encounter, a private gallery with outlets on Spring Mountain Road and at Fashion Show mall.

Maly envisions future business opportunities with the bottle art.

"This gives me an introduction to art collectors whose walls are full," he said.

A wine collector can have a miniature reproduction of an admired work by a favorite artist placed on a bottle, and then display the bottle art.

"There's something very elegant about the concept," Maly said.

The gallery director represents about 100 artists. Several of them, including Martinez and 21-year-old Jennifer Main (who is barely old enough herself to buy a bottle of wine), will have reproductions of their work displayed on bottles.

Main has been a professional artist since she was 17 years old. Her earliest work brought about $600; she now sells paintings for around $4,000.

"I think it's a great way to promote the art," Main said. "It doesn't cheapen the work at all."

She said a number of people have called her after seeing her paintings on a bottle of wine. "It really catches your attention," Main said.

Maly said he thinks the unusual concept has a great future in store.

"Each of the pieces will be done in limited editions, so there will not be huge numbers out there," he said.

Full-sized reproductions generally are made from an artist's original painting for sale at a lesser cost than the original artwork. The number of miniature reproductions that are available for wine art corresponds with the number of full-sized reproductions.

"The art on the bottle is not a painting, as such," Maly said. "It's a 'giclee,' which is French for 'to squirt.'"

The image of the original is scanned into a computer and a miniature is created and signed by the artist. The miniature art is placed on a raised surface, similar to a small canvas.

Maly said wine art will complement the original work.

"It's pretty exciting," he said. "I think it's great. We look for big things to come of this."

Etched in time

Wine-bottle art evolved from a company Palas founded more than 10 years ago in Las Vegas, to manufacture specialty items such as hurricane glasses.

Palas' etching business started with the glasses, which bar customers generally keep as souvenirs. He went on to put logos on cups and other items.

In 1990 Palas began to expand his horizons.

"I started looking at different aspects of what we could do with etching," Palas said. "At that time several wineries in Napa Valley (Calif.) were playing with the idea of decorating their bottles, specialty etching of logos. I decided to expand on Napa's idea."

Palas began by giving etched wine bottles as personal gifts.

"I wasn't selling them, just dabbling, doing this on bottles at Christmas for some of my clients who were buying my (etched) glassware," he said. "I used to write things on the bottles, scan it and etch it on."

Palas used contacts in the hotel industry to expand his business.

"I used to get into places by etching notes on a wine bottle requesting an interview. It makes an impression," he said. "Frank Rigley (vice president of food and beverage at Flamingo Las Vegas) said, 'This product will get you in to see kings and queens, but what you do after that is up to you.' "

Palas has etched commemorative pieces for the Billboard Awards, Espy Awards and a number of golf tournaments.

"We're working on something with the U.S. Open right now," he said. "All 18 holes will be on the bottle, encased in a vault and at the end will be signed by the winner of the tournament."

Etching a bottle is a labor- intensive process. Using computerized equipment, workers can turn out 25-50 bottles an hour, depending on the complexity of the etching.

"We made up 250 bottles for Bally's one Fourth of July," Palas said. He routinely gets requests from the Flamingo Las Vegas and other hotels for etched bottles, which are given as gifts to customers.

Fine wine art

Palas said the value of the wine art depends on the value of the art being reproduced, as well as the value of the wine. Each bottle may be worth a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

He said the bottle is the frame for the miniature reproduction. "Framing is 33 percent of the cost of the art," he said. "If you have $800 in a painting, you've got $400 in a frame."

While Palas has done a lot of work with Art Encounter over the past year, he does not have an exclusive arrangement with the gallery. He can reproduce art on a bottle for anyone.

Any art that is in the public domain (he has reproduced works by Monet) may be re- created on wine bottles, but Palas said most people prefer work by contemporary artists who sign the art on the bottle, enhancing its value.

Palas displays works by a few artists at his boutique, and keeps a portfolio of others whose works may end up on bottles.

"Unlike art galleries with hundreds of paintings, I want to keep this a boutique," Palas said. "I want to feature an artist, bring him or her in and have a glass of wine with him, make it more personalized."

Palas is not an art collector, per se. "But I know what I like, and I listen and pay attention to what other people like," he said. "I select my art the same way I do everything -- I surround myself with people with different viewpoints."

Eventually, Palas will offer music with his wine-bottle art.

Local composer/singer Heather Kefalas (whose latest CD is titled "Portraits") will write music that reflects the mood of the art that appears on the bottle, and the CD will be sold with the package.

"She has so much talent," Palas said. "She will write specific music to specific art."

Palas says his work will be part of his legacy.

"When you're placed on this Earth you get to do whatever you want while you're here, but when you're gone you're done," Palas said. "The wine and art will be around long after I'm gone.

"If I can make the world a little better place while I'm here is one thing, but to create something that will continue after I'm gone is my goal."

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