Mouton Rothschild to fund Versailles restoration

Château Mouton Rothschild has announced it is to auction limited edition sets of its wines to help fund restoration projects at the palace of Versailles.

The Pauillac-based first growth will release 75 sets each featuring five wines from the 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2013 vintages.

The choice of the wines is very deliberate, as each of the artists invited to design the artwork for the label of the vintages in question (Giuseppe Penone, Bernar Venet, Anish Kapoor, Jeff Koons and Lee Ufan) have also had their artwork exhibited at Versailles.

The 75 cases will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in spring next year in a trio of sales starting in Hong Kong on 1 April, then London on 17 April and finally New York on 4 May.

Successful bidders will also be invited to a private visit and tasting at Château Mouton Rothschild and a dinner at Versailles on 21 September.

All proceeds from the sale of the sets will be donated to the palace to help fund restoration projects.

Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, chairman and CEO of Baron Philippe de Rothschild, said: “An artistic bridge from one château to another, together we conceived this presentation case which celebrates the art and the art of living of one of the world’s finest wines, Château Mouton Rothschild, and the Palace of Versailles, a landmark of the world’s cultural heritage.

“It has been our wish to support the restoration of the Palace of Versailles by creating a limited-series collector’s case that brings together two internationally renowned symbols of art.”

Catherine Pégard, president of the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles, added: “For the past 10 years, the greatest contemporary artists have engaged in a dialogue with the illustrious builders of Versailles. Before or after stopping off at Versailles some of them – Giuseppe Penone, Bernar Venet, Anish Kapoor, Jeff Koons, Lee Ufan – entered the unique collection created by Baron Philippe de Rothschild with the 1945 label and enhanced by his daughter, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, around the labels of the most prestigious of their wines. This presentation case, reminiscent of puzzle boxes holding the most precious or fabulous secrets, bears witness to this shared history and to Baron Philippe de Rothschild as a patron of Versailles.”