20 THE JEALOUS FRENCHMAN

When Baron Philippe de Rothschild came into his inheritance in 1923, he took control of the Mouton wine estates that his family had purchased 70 years earlier in 1853.

Although its production methods were of a high standard, even wines such as Mouton were viewed and sold as a commodity. Many rich Frenchmen drank whiskey with their meals, while in more modest restaurants wine was given away free in carafes. The challenge Baron Philippe faced was that the Mouton brand didn’t really exist.

Driving down the N10 between Angoulème and Bordeaux in his Bugatti, Baron Philippe saw advertisements for new branded drinks such as St. Raphaël, Suze and Quinquina.

He was soon a jealous man. Why did these products gain greater respect and better margins than his glorious wines? He decided that something had to be done.

With hindsight, his idea seems simple and logical but at the time it created outrage within the conservative wine industry for its radicalism. The Baron was even accused of being part of a Bolshevik plot!

Until that point, wine was sold in bulk to merchants, who were free to mix and blend it to their own specifications, adding everything from other wines to red ink or Neopolitan dried blood. The baron’s radical concept was that he should maintain control of his product – his brand – not only through its origin and production, but also through its presentation and sale in the marketplace.

He decided to bottle his own product, a process that he named simply enough “chateau bottling”.

He then went about creating an image, commissioning Jean Carlu, a noted member of the Union des Artistes Modernes, to create a logo for Mouton estate wines. The now famous marque combining the ram’s head and an arrow was born.

What these two initiatives did was to provide a clear and recognizable means by which consumers could guarantee the consistent quality and integrity of the product they bought.

Rothschild’s innovative thinking in wine continued, with the creation of Mouton Cadet in 1928. In 1935 he added his own signature to the label for the first time as another guarantee; this time a personal guarantee of quality.

And the moral is that brands are a guarantee of quality. How closely do you monitor and control your product or service?