Art on wine labels: history and the Eric Fischl label for Bedell

Uncorked, published in The East Hampton Star

The Wine Label as a Thing of Beauty

I am lucky to possess a bottle of 1947 Chateau Mouton Rothschild. I am not certain about the quality of the contents of the bottle since I do not have perfect storage facilities, but I know that the label, with its print of a beautiful line drawing by Jean Cocteau, will never lose its freshness nor cease to be a profound source of pleasure to me. Wine labels are there for a reason, whether it is the grape identification or geographic origin scratched on a Roman amphora or etched on an early medieval bottle, or the panoply of facts and warnings currently required to be glued to each bottle by the United States government.

It is a sign of high civilization to take something utilitarian and make it a thing of beauty, and that first happened to the wine label in 1924 when Baron Philippe de Rothschild made two revolutionary decisions. The first was to bottle his own wines at the chateau, as opposed to the Medoc tradition of selling barrels of wine to merchants, who would then bottle, label and sell it under their own names, only sometimes acknowledging sources; and the second was to commission an artist to celebrate this event by creating art for the label.

Since then, many wineries both in Europe and now around the world have commissioned artists to create labels or used existing art. Very few have come close to the extraordinary pre-eminence and originality of the ongoing series from Mouton Rothschild, but a Long Island winery now appears to be making a bid to do exactly that. Bedell Cellars, in Cutchogue, recently released 450 boxed, numbered magnums of 2001 Reserve merlot with a striking label designed by Eric Fischl. Mr. Fischl, a Sag Harbor resident, is an interesting choice. He certainly has the stature and reputation, but his work is hardly thought of as decorative or pretty. The novelist and critic A. M. Homes, who knows a thing or two about the dark side of everyday life, has described Mr. Fischl’s nudes in this way: “the nude, the stripped figure, wears a kind of psychological clothing that goes beyond the skin.”

The image on the label is a stylized nude female figure seen from the back, poised in a dancer’s position. The figure, fluid and beautiful, appears to be gracefully balanced. Yet there are hints of the faults and imperfections of the physical body, just hints of the human insecurities expressed in many of Mr. Fishl’s paintings.

Michael Lynne, the owner of Bedell and an important collector of contemporary art, was wise in choosing this balletic and engaging, but resolutely serious image by a painter who confronts us with truths about who we are. I have no doubt these 450 labels will be seen as limited edition prints. In that sense, $200 seems a reasonable price. I trust we will be seeing other labels by other artists in the future. I’m ready to collect.

Bedell Cellars has produced top-flight merlots for some time, and the 2001 Reserve is an impeccable example. The growing season was ideal, and Kip Bedell, the winemaker, seems to have a transcendent understanding of this grape. The result is everything you want from a Long Island merlot. Lush fruit, predominantly cherry, is balanced with fairly firm, ripe tannins. The bouquet is sensual, and the taste rich, velvety and textured. The wine, like the art, has soul. You don’t have to buy the boxed magnum to enjoy this merlot. The winery sells a standard 750-milliliter bottle with a conventional Bedell label for $30.

I don’t know if Mr. Lynn, who has a home in East Hampton, needed government approval for this very limited edition label. The federal agency in charge seems to have some artistic sense. They approved the 1993 Mouton Rothschild label showing a dreamy, adolescent nude girl by Balthus, but some right wing pressure groups—it’s hard to picture them drinking Mouton Rothschild—objected to its release, and a different, more prudish label was substituted in this country.