Wine, Words & Wednesday, No. 35

This morning, I read a Wine Spectator blog reporting that three of the cartoonists killed in last week’s Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris were also wine label designers.  (Be sure to scroll to the end of the WS blog and check out their design work).

For more than 40 years, Bordeaux winemaker, Gérard Descrambe, has employed Charlie Hebdo cartoonists to help design a series of fun, humorous (and sometimes risqué) labels for his wines.  “It was always my philosophy to have fun with wine,” Descrambe says.  “There are too many people in Bordeaux who don’t know how to have fun with wine.  They make it too serious.”

I love Descrambe’s wine philosophy — a cartoon on a Bordeaux label?  Absurde!  But the words that really stuck with me were these:

I’d love to buy a bottle of one of Descrambe’s cartoon-label wines, but unfortunately, they aren’t exported to the United States.  Boo.  Lightbulb:  I’m going to be in France this summer, so I will keep my eyes peeled.

Vive la satire!  #jesuischarlie

Salud!