Meet the wine before you taste it.
Three dimensions. One experience.
CALASSI begins before the wine reaches the glass.
Ritual
Making wine a ritual again
Wine has always been more than something we drink. CALASSI brings the serving ritual back to the table — creating anticipation, attention and a sense of occasion before the first sip.
Perception
Shaping the expectation
Form, colour, texture, weight and touch translate the character of the wine into a physical object — preparing the senses for what is about to come.
Function
Designed to serve the wine
Every system works around the wine itself — from aeration and light protection to temperature control and the physical act of holding, pouring and serving.
The founding collection · CALASSI × AYA Estate
Five wines. Five sensory profiles. Five systems
The first CALASSI collection was created with the industrial partnership of AYA Estate around five individual wines. Each begins with a different sensory profile — translated into its own form, colour, texture and material.
Created in porcelain and produced in a limited, numbered edition, each vessel is both a collectible object and a serving instrument designed specifically for the wine that inspired it.
"Flavour is more than taste. It is the work of all our senses, carrying us through memory, imagination and time."
The Visual Language of Taste
Can taste be translated into visual language?
Taste does not begin on the tongue. Before the first bite, the brain is already forming expectations from what we see, touch and experience around us.
Research into crossmodal correspondences shows that our senses do not operate in isolation. We naturally associate certain colours, shapes, textures and tactile qualities with particular tastes, aromas and sensations.
CALASSI brings these correspondences to the table. The sensory profile of each wine becomes the starting point for decisions about form, colour, texture, material, weight and proportion — creating a vessel that shapes expectation before we taste.
A long-standing source of inspiration
“Even though it feels like we’re seeing or hearing or feeling or tasting — like we can break down our experience into different senses — in fact much more goes into our judgment and perception than we realize.”
The work of Professor Charles Spence and the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at the University of Oxford has inspired Maria’s exploration of multisensory perception for years. His research into how the senses interact helped shape the territory from which the Visual Language of Taste developed.
From earth to object
Made by hand. Shaped by wine.
Wine & clay
An old bond, kept.
Wine and clay have shared the table for millennia. CALASSI carries this ancient relationship forward, reinterpreting the vessel as part of the ritual once again. Every decision of form, surface and glaze responds to the character of the wine it was created for.
Made by hand
The human trace remains.
Every CALASSI vessel is made entirely by hand in Sofia, Bulgaria, at the Pottery & Poetry studio. From forming and refining to glazing and finishing, every stage passes through human hands and every piece is individually quality-controlled.
Individually made
No two are quite the same.
CALASSI is produced in small, numbered editions rather than through mass production. Subtle variations in form, glaze and surface are part of the process, giving each vessel its own presence while preserving the design and sensory intention of the collection.
For wineries & restaurants
Commission your own CALASSI collection.
If you are a winery, wine producer or fine-dining restaurant looking to create a distinctive way to serve and experience your wines, CALASSI develops bespoke collections around individual wines — from sensory analysis and concept development to prototypes and the finished limited edition.