Grant MacDonald crafts Golden Vines Awards in cork and gold
The London designer has created the 2026 trophies for the Golden Vines Awards in collaboration with Amorim Cork and illustrator Kristjana S Williams, combining natural cork with gleaming brass and hand painted detail.
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Grant MacDonald has created the 2026 Golden Vines Awards trophies through a collaboration that marries natural material with precious metal and illustration. Each trophy emerges as a sculptural vessel in natural cork, its surface wrapped in elaborate hand painted detail by artist Kristjana S Williams. Butterflies and birds drift across the surface alongside delicate botanical imagery rendered in turquoise, yellow, pink and ochre, each panel a miniature scene of narrative richness.
The cork body is anchored by a bold brass frame, its twisted rope motif catching the light with the generous gleam of polished gold. Handles twist from the same golden metal, their organic curves echoing the natural material they embrace. The construction marries the earthiness of Portuguese cork with the formality of cast brass, a dialogue between raw and refined that speaks to the awards’ celebration of viticulture and craft.
Working alongside Amorim Cork, the Portuguese cork specialists whose material forms the trophy’s foundation, MacDonald has engineered a piece that feels both monumental and intimate. The weight of the brass grounds it, while the hand illustrated surface invites close examination. Every trophy becomes a collector’s object, its warmth and textural depth at odds with the typical sleek anonymity of awards.
Imagery courtesy of Grant MacDonald London (@grant_macdonald_london).
