Château Mouton-Rothschild: The Labels
The first vintage of Château Mouton-Rothschild to wear a label specifically designed for this purpose was the 1924, once Baron Philippe had moved from marketing wines in barrel to château-bottling. There were definite benefits to this new practice; the Mouton-Rothschild label was intended to act as a guarantee of not just origin but also quality. Others followed suit and within half a century château-bottling would become the norm throughout the region; following the Cruse scandal of the 1970s it would eventually become a stipulated requirement, enshrined in law in 1972.
The first label was designed by cubist Jean Carlu (1900 – 1997), and was personally signed by Philippe himself. For the next few decades there were only a few modifications to this label, otherwise it remained essentially unchanged, except for 1938, 1939 and 1940 when it went unsigned; Philippe was not there to place his mark on the labels. Having been imprisoned in Vichy at the start of World War II, he was eventually released from custody, after which he fled to England.
His estranged wife (they had married in 1934, but separated and divorced a few years later), Elisabeth Pelletier de Chambure (1902 – 1945), was less fortunate. Having been arrested when crossing the Vichy demarcation line, she had been deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, where despite Philippe’s reputed efforts to secure her release she died. They are pictured together, below, in 1935.
