CHATEAU MOUTON ROTHSCHILD ARTIST COLECTIONRevolutionising the Label!
Understanding the strong connection between wine and
art, Baron Philippe de Rothschild flouted tradition and created artist labels
for the wine of Chateau Mouton Rothschild. This act of defiance that
revolutionised the Bordeaux wine world ensured that labels would never be the
same again, and has today produced a serious collection of art.
For the prestigious 2000 vintage, Mouton Rothschild departed from tradition – the entire bottle became a collector's item featuring the Augsburg Ram enamelled in gold on the glass
Think Picasso, Dali, Chagall, Warhol and Arman whose original artworks feature on the labels of top Bordeaux first-growth wine, the brainchild of Baron
Philippe de Rothschild, who came to own Chateau Mouton Rothschild in 1922 and
turned age-old tradition on its head. While the wine from every vineyard in the
Medoc had always been sold in casks to Bordeaux merchants in charge of
maturing, bottling, labelling and marketing, leaving the owner with no rights
over the end product, he introduced the ground-breaking idea in 1924 of
bottling the complete harvest before it left the estate, transferring
responsibility back to the owner and transforming what were staid, functional
wine labels into identifying, quality trademarks that bore his name and
signature... and miniature works of art.
Just as the marriage between the English branch of a prominent family with the
celebrated Medoc estate of Brane Mouton in 1853 linked two great names, so the
Chateau Mouton Rothschild Artist Collection connects the creativity of
20th-century artists with the Rothschild family's dedication to Mouton. Not
your standard vertical collection, with a bottle of the 1924 vintage and
thereafter one bottle of every vintage from 1945 to 2000 (with two bottles each
of vintages 1978 and 1993), the Artist Collection displays artworks on its
labels, fashioned each year by the most important artists of their era, thus
chronicling major shifts in the art world.
In a world first, Jean Carlu was chosen as the initial artist to place a
commercial art piece on a wine label. The revolutionary Cubist-inspired result
depicted a ram supposedly representing the word «mouton» (French for «ram») in
the wine's name or the Baron's Aries horoscope sign. This innovative move was
subsequently mimicked by Bordeaux's top producers, who incorporated photography
and new typefaces, forever changing the way in which wine labels were designed
worldwide.
Today, Mouton estate manager Baroness Philippine de Rothschild carries on the
tradition her father pioneered, but ventures further afield by expanding the
list of artists beyond Europe and the US to Asia. The relationship between the
artists and the estate's owners has always been complicit, one built on
friendship and mutual respect. Though the artists have complete freedom to
express themselves on the labels, Mouton has the last word and may decline or
alter artworks. Rather than monetary compensation, artists are given five cases
of the vintage they have contributed a label for, and another five cases of any
other wines.
Respected by the art world as a legitimate body of work that provides an
intimate look into the lives of a well-regarded family and the changing times
in which they lived, the rarity of this collection lies in the fact that 16 of
the bottles have been autographed by the vintage's respective artist, and nine
even showcase unique drawings rendered by them on the back of the bottles.
Stored in Geneva and available from Singapore-based Corndale Consultants at a
price of 650,000 euros, this is a highly sought-after art collectable.
Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle
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