Wine News

Château Mouton-Rothschild is breaking with tradition by not commisioning an artist's label for the 2000 Vintage. In 1945, Baron Philippe de Rothschild conceived the original idea of crowning the Mouton label with a work of art created for this purpose by famous artists: These have included paintings by Miró, Chagall, Braque, Picasso, Warhol, Bacon, Balthus, amongst others. Only 2 vintages have not had Artist's labels: 1953 which celebrated the initial purchase of the Mouton property and 1977 when the Queen Mother stayed at Mouton and the Baron dedicated that year's vintage to her.

However in a departure from tradition, the label for the 2000 Vintage will be decorated. Unveiled last week in New York, the new bottle design features a reproduction of an item from the château's Museum of Wine in Art. Enamelled in gold on the glass is the Augsburg Ram, a silver-gilt drinking vessel created circa 1590 by Jakob Schenauer, a German master metalsmith. The ram, Mouton's symbol, has appeared on previous labels, from the first artist label, an art deco version created by the poster artist Jean Carlu for the 1924 vintage, to the image created by poster artist Raymond Savignac for the 1999 vintage.