Another Claret with Art Label

The first name that people will think of when talk revolves around art labels and Bordeaux is Mouton, but Siran has also been doing it for some time. (Of course there are other famous wines with art labels which change year by year, but we'll explore those in other wine tidbits.) Whereas Mouton only has labels painted, Siran has another artistic connection: from the late 18th Century till 1858 (when the current owners - the Miailhe family bought it), it belonged to the Count of Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa, one of whose descendants, the diminutive Henri was an important French Post-Impressionist painter along with the likes of Cezanne, Van Gogh and Gaugin.

Although it never had cru classe status, it was one of twelve candidates for promotion in a review of the 1855 classification in 1959. It was elevated from Cru Bourgeious to Cru Bourgouise Exceptionelle in 2003 but that classification was scrapped after a legal challenge. Since 1980 an art label has adorned the bottles every year. Those interested in looking up the labels from 1980 to 2004 can consult the following Web page: http://www.youcellar.com/en/wine-labels-from-siran.php