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DAVID HOCKNEY ILLUSTRATES THE LABEL OF CHATEAU MOUTON ROTHSCHILD 2014
The commission for the illustration of the 2014 vintage was given to the English painter David Hockney, born in 1937. Influenced by Pop Art and a master of the most up-to-date techniques, from acrylics to the iPad, he nevertheless falls within the figurative tradition, especially portraiture, painting people and objects in bright, contrasting colours.
David Hockney was a personal friend of Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, who died in 2014 and to whom his drawing pays tribute. Haloed by vibrant lines of force, signifying both emotion and wonder, two glasses, one empty, the other full, tell the story of feverish expectation and the constantly renewed miracle of the birth of a great wine: Château Mouton Rothschild, of which Baroness Philippine was for so long the guiding spirit.
DAVID HOCKNEY
Born in 1937, David Hockney is one of the greatest British artists of our time, having quickly secured his place in the painters’ pantheon. After graduating from the Royal College of Art in London with a gold medal in 1962, he immediately embarked on a successful career. The following year he met Dennis Hopper and Andy Warhol in the United States, where he discovered Pop Art, and went on to teach at the University of California in Berkeley and Los Angeles. He settled in Los Angeles, a haven of sunshine and freedom, in 1966.
He consistently draws inspiration for his painting from his immediate surroundings, in landscapes, still-lifes and portraits of friends, and has embraced a wide range of techniques over the years, from acrylics and Polaroid photographs to the iPad. He became famous for his paintings of Californian swimming pools in which the human presence, explicit or suggested, is redolent with an atmosphere of ambiguous sensuality. In his portraits, a genre in which he has always excelled, the faces, painted without concession, combine the classical precision of Ingres with the flamboyant colours of Van Gogh.
His most recent exhibition at the Royal Academy in London, 82 Portraits and 1 Still-Life, recently came to a triumphant close. A retrospective in 2017, to be shown in London, Paris (the Centre Pompidou) and New York, will highlight the strength of image, precision of line and modernity of media deployed by a virtuoso artist who defies conventional labels.
David Hockney was a personal friend of Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, who died in 2014 and to whom his drawing pays tribute. Haloed by vibrant lines of force, signifying both emotion and wonder, two glasses, one empty, the other full, tell the story of feverish expectation and the constantly renewed miracle of the birth of a great wine: Château Mouton Rothschild, of which Baroness Philippine was for so long the guiding spirit.
Wine Description
The Story
Château Mouton Rothschild A Premier Cru Classé in 1973, Château Mouton Rothschild, owned by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, consists of 205 acres of vines near Pauillac, in the Médoc, North West of the city of Bordeaux. This Premier Cru benefits from exceptionally good natural conditions, both in the quality of the soil, the position of its vines and their exposure to the sun. It is regarded today as one of the world's greatest wine.
The name Mouton is said to be derived from the word „Motte“ meaning mound or elevation of the ground. It was bought in 1853 by Philippe de Rothschilds great-grand father it was in a fairly bad shape and when the classification of 1855 was set up it was not deemed to be good enough to be qualified as a first growth but put in first place amongst the second growths. An injustice it took Philippe de Rothschild until 1973 to rectify. 1920s Philippe de Rothschild called together the owners of Haut Brion, Latour, Lafite, Margaux and Yquem to talk about the idea of bottling and marketing their wines on their own.
The first vintage to be bottled exclusivly at the château was the 1924 vintage. To commemorate this, the cubistic painter Carlu was asked to design the label, yet another revolutionary idea in this most conservative of surroundings. The idea of an artist designing the labels was dropped until 1945 when Philippe Jullian was asked to design a label commemorating the victory over nazi Germany. Since then works of such famous artists as Picasso, Miró, Dali, Chagall and personalities like John Huston and Prince Charles have been used for the labels.
In 1988, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, who had already been associated with her father's work for some time, succeeded her father. She has in turn become the guarantor of the quality of an illustrious wine whose motto proudly proclaims : "Premier je suis, second je fus, Mouton ne change". First I am, second I was, I Mouton do not change
Vineyard soil: very deep gravel on a limestone base Production area: 82.5 ha Grape varieties: 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot Average age of vines: 48 years Harvest method: hand picked. The grapes from the younger vines are harvested first and vinified separately.
Winemaking: Before destemming, the grapes are hand-sorted then selected one by one. Vinification depends on each vintage and the characteristics of each vat. All the relevant parameters, such as temperature, pumping over, aeration, vatting time and running off, are monitored by the technical manager, the cellar-master and the laboratory.
Ageing: 19 to 22 months in oak barrels (almost all new, the percentage varying according to the vintage)
Wine Information
2014 will be remembered as a year of contrasts. / Spring arrived in due course after a typical Bordeaux winter, though April was much sunnier and drier than the average, encouraging early bud break, especially for the Merlot.
A wet and cool May was followed by a spell of bright and sunny weather, despite some highly localised heavy rainfall, mainly due to storms on 22 and 23 June. The weather in summer was very changeable. July was generally fine and slightly warmer than the average, whereas August was quite a lot cooler and much less sunny, though drier, than normal.
With the end of August came one of the longest and most exceptional Indian summers in winegrowing memory, bringing a succession of hot, sunny and dry days which lasted until the end of October. This extraordinary late season enabled the grapes to reach perfect maturity, retaining all the fruit flavours and favouring phenolic compounds...
The harvest took place in ideal conditions, leaving plenty of time to pick the grapes at optimum maturity.
Harvest from 19 September to 9 October
Varietal mix 81% Cabernet Sauvignon
16% Merlot
3% Cabernet Franc
Tasting notes
The colour is a deep red with a purplish tint, while the refined and distinguished nose reveals very mature fruit aromas pleasantly mingled with subtle spice and vanilla notes.
The velvety attack fills the mouth with a mature and smooth body on silky, firm tannins which enfold a satin texture with a hint of minerality, leading into a very long finish which displays a harmonious combination of complexity, opulence and freshness.
Vintage 2014
Bordeaux Vintage 2014 - is not a great vintage like 2005, 2009 or 2010 but it will be able to secure a position as one of the very good vintages of Bordeaux.
Generally scheduled between the end of March and the beginning of April, Primeur Week in Bordeaux is always an exciting time because it allows a first glimpse of the latest vintage. The sheer number of wines available for tasting is impressive and a week almost seems short. This is why the Union de Grands Crus offers a well-organized blind tasting for the press every morning of the week. The previous weekend, the Grand Cercle des vins de Bordeaux organizes blind tastings of more than 200 samples. These impressions are supplemented by tastings in different Châteaux and tastings organized by the Bordeaux trade. Therefore, some wines may be tasted twice or even more often during this week to check quality and style.
An interesting fact is the weather situation. Low weather pressure means wines can close, while high weather pressure presents wines in a more open and flavorful style. This year the wheat was pretty bad during the first few days of the tasting week, but improved a lot in the second half of the week. This had an influence on the tasting notes in general which must be taken into account. Another effect was the late harvest in 2014, which shortened the period between harvest and early tastings by up to a month. A month less time for maturation has effects on the tasting results, which is another aspect to consider, always keeping in mind that each tasting result remains a snapshot and is not an absolute judgment and definitive.
The year 2014 started early with bud burst about 10 days before the average of the last 10 years. At the end of May, flowering began on the first terroirs in heterogeneous conditions, while the later grape varieties such as Cabernet-Sauvignon and Franc as well as the later terroirs benefited from a warm and sunny period at the beginning of June. July and August were quite cool and wet and in the second half of August the winegrowers prepared for an even worse vintage than 2013 but at the end of August everything changed. A splendid Indian summer in September and October saved the quality. The harvest began for the white grapes three days later than in 2012 but two weeks later than in 2011. For the red grapes, the harvest began with the Merlot at the end of September and ended with the Cabernets in the second fortnight of October. The cool climate during summer provides higher acidity, the Indian summer is responsible for good ripening.
The dry white wines are of very good quality showing crisp acidity and ripe flavors. Noble sweet white wines also benefit from the higher acidity balancing the opulent sweetness. Therefore, this vintage looks more elegant. The presentation of red wines depends a lot on the grape varieties and terroirs. Overall, the red wines are at a higher level of quality than the previous three vintages. Saint-Emilion is excellent on the limestone plateau and generally shows very good wines.
In Pomerol, the center of the plateau was advantageous over the surrounding areas. Fronsac was a very positive surprise for 2014. In the Médoc, the southern part turned out to be more heterogeneous than the northern part, where especially Saint-Estèphe was homogeneous and excellent. South of Bordeaux, Pessac-Léognan presented a very homogeneous image of a very good level of quality with exceptional wines from Haut Brion and La Mission Haut Brion.
One final observation: this vintage digests oak wonderfully. Oak is not even evident in wines with 100% new oak barrels for maturation. Now there are about twelve months left for the maturation of the 2014s until bottling in 2016. A lot can happen during this period. Let's see how the wines will present themselves after bottling, it will again be a very interesting tasting. 2014 is not a great vintage like 2005, 2009 or 2010 but it will be able to secure a position as one of the very good vintages of Bordeaux.
by Markus del Monego MW
