Mouton Rothschild has unveiled the label for its 2011 vintage, which was designed by the French painter and sculptor Guy de Rougemont.
His design incorporates bright colours and undulating lines, known as “serpentine lines”, which emphasise or temper contrasts of light and shade. The chateau observed how the new label “takes us in colour through all the stages of the birth of a great wine.”
While 2011 was not an exceptional year, Mouton was voted “a candidate for wine of the vintage” by Robert Parker, who awarded it an in-barrel score of 93-96. It has been relatively well received by other critics, with scores in the mid 90s. Released at €360 p/b ex-negociant, the wine last traded on Liv-ex for £3,040 per 12×75.
The chateau has been commissioning contemporary artists to design the upper part of the label every year since 1945. And whilst the artists are not officially paid for their work, they are given cases of the First Growth for their efforts, including cases of "their" vintage. De Rougemont joins a list of artists that includes Picasso, Dali, Miró, Warhol, Bacon, Freud and the Prince of Wales. Last year's label was designed by Jeff Koons.
Guy de Rougemont, photo by Philippe Pannetier
De Rougemont was born in 1935 and studied in both Paris and Madrid. His geometrically inspired paintings were featured in galleries and exhibitions from the 1960s. From 1970 he adorned public spaces with frescoes, patterned surfaces and polychrome columns – these can be seen around the world, including his native France and in Germany and Japan. He was elected to the Academy of Fine Arts of the Institut de France in 1997.
De Rougemont has recently created two works for Mouton: the label for the 2011 and an iridescent brass colonnade for a new room in which Mouton’s ‘Paintings for the Labels’ exhibition is displayed.
