Our Stories

Wine Label Evolution – From 1726 to 2017

Since 1726, Château de Pommard has been evolving with every vintage. Nowhere is this more evident than in our étiquettes du vin. With the release of our new wine labels in April 2017, we feel it’s about time we celebrate the glorious history and evolution of these precious patches that wrap around the curves of our brand new bottles.

THE SEARCH IS ON

Since December 2016, the team at Château de Pommard have been trawling every historic vault in ancient Burgundy, from online archives to local libraries in Dijon, Beaune and Paris, to discover as much of Château de Pommard’s history as possible. The estate may be one of Burgundy’s earliest, and today most cherished, wineries but that doesn’t mean finding a plethora of elderly ephemera has been easy. The ongoing journey has been incredibly fascinating and we look forward to what we find next.

There is a treasure trove of wonderful Château de Pommard artefacts that we have uncovered from various sources. Pommard’s Deputy Mayor, and our neighbor, Olivier Cyrot, has remained a wonderful source of stories, images, paintings, contracts and labels.

Beaune Archives, Dijon Archives and many sources in Paris, as well various websites and sources online, have been incredibly helpful in tracking down wine labels and artefacts. The search is not over – not even close – we are always on the lookout to uncover and discover new Château de Pommard-related bits of history.


Hot off the Press: An advertisement promoting Château de Pommard and the village appeared in local newspapers in the 1930s, during the tenure of Louis Laplanche

MORE THAN JUST A LABEL

In Burgundy, wine labels are important. And fascinating.

Each wine label is a moment in time. Not only for Château de Pommard, but for Burgundy, a reflection of the art, design styles, fashion trends, printing quality and processes, typefaces, and branding that each owner of the estate wanted to express.

LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT OUR COLLECTION

 

Let’s go on an visual journey through time and history and take a look at all the wine labels we’ve been able to unearth from our archives.

 

1800: Our earliest wine label we can find dates back to 1800. It belongs to Claude-Phillibert Marey-Monge’s – Nicolas-Joseph’s brother – Côte de Nuits estate. The Marey-Monge crest and design would have appeared similar to Château de Pommard’s design around this time.

 

1900: The de Blic family moved to Château de Pommard when Hervé de Blic married the youngest granddaughter of Émilie Marey-Monge in the early 1900s. As you can see from the label above the focus of the estate then was Château Marey-Monge, not Château Micault. That Château did not belong to the winemaking Marey-Monge family at the time.

 

 

1941: The famous psychoanalyst Jean Laplanche inherited control of the winemaking estate. Before, his father and mother, Louis and Albertine, produced the wine. This label dates back to 1941, a time when Burgundy would have been under Nazi German occupation. 

 

 

1962: With Jean and Nadine Laplanche at the head of the estate ; and with Jean’s rising fame as one of the world’s greatest thinkers ; Château de Pommard enjoyed much fame and acclaimed during this period. The focus of the estate still centred around Château Marey-Monge. The Laplanches would have to wait another four years, in 1966, before the reunited the two châteaux. 

 

1967: With the two châteaux of the estate now reunited, the Laplanche family celebrated with a new label – this famous oyster design. This label would remain for the next 50 years, with only minor modifications. 

 

 

2005: After Maurice Giraud purchased the estate in 2003, he modified the wine label design slightly. He began inserting his winemaker’s name, Philippe Charlopin, on the bottle. Philippe has gone onto great things in Gevrey-Chambertin since departing in 2007.


 

2017: A new family, a new wine label. Famille Carabello-Baum have completely rebranded the wine label. Leaving the oyster design behind and choosing an elegant and modern design that echoes the estate’s 21st century philosophy.

Do you have any Château de Pommard wine labels? If so, we’d love to hear from you! Please email malcolm@chateaudepommard.com