CellArt’s Jonathan Primeau Reflects On A Decade of Luxury-Defying Wine Spaces
WORDS BY,
BRANDON SCOTT ROYE
Photo: Courtesy of CellArt
Jonathan creates grandiose wine spaces which defy gravity, luxury, and scale, as we know it today.
He made the leap after a strong nudge from his wife while kite surfing on vacation.
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Launching with six wine-focused endeavors in tandem, one naturally surfaced as a passion he would commit to over the long-term—bringing art and wine together through CellArt. Scraping the sky over Billionaire’s Row, the Steinway Tower is the world’s thinnest and the nation’s second tallest residential tower behind Central Park Tower.
As an amenity to be shared among the world’s most successful business people and their families, CellArt is developing a palatial wine space and tasting room where residents can store and sip their wine, as one. Jonathan was kind enough to share a sneak-peak of their architectural plans with BOND OFFICIAL.
If you’re a car enthusiast, I’m sure you’re familiar with the Sylvan Rock x Aston Martin concept home. CellArt’s team of virtuosic creators were commissioned to integrate a wine space, adjacent to the garage and recreational room. What an honor.
When asked how CellArt reached the pinnacle of its industry, Jonathan swiftly responded, “We have an artistic director which is uncommon for the industry and our creative team is exclusively in-house. We set an expectation with our clients of comfortable deadlines and set a cap of 52 projects per year. This level of artistry and artisanship cannot be rushed.”
In fact, they don’t keep much of a project management schedule at all. It took Jonathan 6-7 years to find creators who could thrive in this environment and the result flies in the face of conventional management philosophies—effortlessly.
Mirroring that of a phoenix which is born anew again and again, the CellArt team is committed to developing never-before-seen wine spaces which are never to be replicated again.
For a client with an affinity for the sea, the grand door handles leading into their wine space were capped on each end by custom coins from the Canadian Royal Mint with metal from a boat. This tiny and thoughtful detail will remain exclusive to the client’s home—just as unique as the wine collection enclosed.
Thinking from a macro perspective, the CellArt team believes that wine spaces should be the center of the home, rather than a retrofitted afterthought. This drives them to engage with clients at the very inception of their new home with art and wine as the center of gravity, drawing everyone closer to each other.
Looking at their concept renderings, especially the concrete zen garden, one might say their designs bring a restorative calm, just like the healing tears of a phoenix.
Photo: Courtesy of CellArt
We have an artistic director which is uncommon for the industry and our creative team is exclusively in-house.
You might be wondering how to bring your partner, family, and friends along for the ride. In his own home, Jonathan dedicated space to his three children with wine from their year of birth and barrel aged beers for his wife.
When guests stop by, he simply walks them through the space. This is where the stories, laughter, questions, preferences, and evening’s menu lead you naturally to the right bottle. When Jonathan is the guest himself, he’ll bring anywhere between 6-12 bottles and taste the food before it’s served for a proper pairing. Don’t forget—no munching before the first sip in the tasting room. Wine is the perfect palette cleanser, most richly experienced and discerned without competing flavors.
It’s the journey and intention behind choosing a bottle of wine which makes an unforgettable evening for your guests. And as his children grow, milestones like graduations and weddings can be celebrated by popping a bottle they’ve been excited to taste for decades.
With CellArt’s ten year anniversary fast approaching, we pondered which bottle Jonathan would select to commemorate his team’s virtuosic repertoire. While he hasn’t decided just yet, my bet is on his dream bottle—the Dom Perignon P3 from 1971.
You’ll likely find this legendary bottle hidden behind an unassuming door, as he doesn’t believe in flashing such treasures like wine and gold. The most valuable vintages should be respected with the highest levels of protection from the sunlight, rather than the dazzling showcases you might expect.
With an eye towards the level of protection for both wine and the environment, it won’t surprise you to hear new innovations are in the works at CellArt for the decade ahead. This includes replacing the traditional HVAC system with running water through walls and leveraging weather sensors placed in wine regions around the world to align the environmental settings of their wine spaces with the bottle’s homeland.