BEFORE THERE WAS A VESSEL, THERE WAS A QUESTION.
THE NAME
CALASSI
Calassi comes from καλός — Greek for beautiful, кал — Bulgarian for earth, clay, soil, and calyx — the ancient vessel for serving and sharing wine.
It brings us the beauty of the earth.
THE BEGINNING
EVERY WORK NEEDS ITS SETTING.
A painter does not think about the frame while painting. Neither does a chef when creating a new dish.
But once the work is complete, another question appears: how should it be presented so that it is perceived as intended?
What is the right setting, framing or plating for someone to experience what is in front of them?
Calassi grew from this question.
It began in the practice of architect and ceramic designer Maria Baleva, whose experiments with colourful, irregular tableware explored how an everyday object could transform an ordinary meal into an aesthetic experience.
FROM TABLEWARE TO TASTE
MATERIA MENSA
As these experiments with clay, colour and glaze developed, chefs began looking for vessels created specifically for their dishes.
This became the starting point for Materia Mensa — an audiovisual project exploring the collaboration between ceramic artist and chef, and the way material, taste and plating shape the perception of food.
The question was no longer simply how to make a beautiful object.
How can the vessel serve the intention of the person who created what it holds?
THE NEXT QUESTION
AND THEN CAME WINE.
When the next chapter of Materia Mensa led to AYA Estate Vineyards, the question changed again.
For thousands of years, wine had vessels for fermentation, preservation, transportation, serving, drinking and ceremonial offering.
Amphorae, chalices and ritual objects carried form, material, ornament and symbolism.
Wine was not simply consumed.
It was served as a ritual.
AND NOW
GLASS.
THE QUESTION THAT BECAME CALASSI
WHAT IF THE VESSEL RETURNED TO THE WINE?
What if a wine once again had a vessel made specifically for serving it?
Could the object in our hands prepare us for its aromas, flavours and finish before we taste it?
Could colour suggest fruit?
Could texture anticipate minerality?
Could weight communicate structure?
Could form express freshness, richness or length?
THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF
CALASSI
THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE INTUITION
TASTE BEGINS BEFORE THE FIRST SIP.
Research into crossmodal perception gave scientific ground to an intuition already present in the work: what we taste is influenced by much more than the tongue alone.
What the eye sees, what the hand feels, the form and weight of the vessel, its texture and temperature — together with light, sound and environment — contribute to expectation before anything reaches the mouth.
The experience begins before tasting.
DISCOVER THE METHOD →THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF TASTE
TRANSLATING WINE INTO MATTER.
Combining the character of wine with the expressive possibilities of ceramic material, CALASSI began developing a vocabulary of form, colour, texture, weight and surface.
A wine may be light and floral, mineral and saline, ripe and enveloping, smoky, herbal or fruit-driven.
CALASSI does not illustrate these characteristics literally. It translates them into matter.
GLOSS / MATTE
WEIGHT / LIGHTNESS
SMOOTHNESS / RELIEF
OPACITY / REFLECTION
SYMMETRY / MOVEMENT
BEYOND PERCEPTION
FORM FOLLOWS THE WINE.
The vessel does more than shape expectation.
Different wines ask for different conditions. Some benefit from aeration. Temperature influences the release of aromas. Light, handling and the act of pouring all become part of serving the wine.
For CALASSI, sensory perception, wine technology and aesthetics are therefore not separate considerations.
They become one object.
CALASSI
MEET THE WINE BEFORE YOU TASTE IT.
Wine vessels conceived through taste, shaped through perception and made by hand in Sofia, Bulgaria.
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