Three of the victims killed in the incredibly tragic Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks in Paris last week were not only some France's most celebrated cartoonists, but also the designers behind the country's most "outrageous" wine labels. Bordeaux winemaker Gérard Descrambe tells Wine Spectator that for over 40 years he commissioned Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, as well as others, to create "eye-catching labels" for his Château Barrail des Graves winery. The labels "varied from drunken to suggestive to sexually explicit humor." Descrambe tells the publication: "Their spirit was to laugh at everything and expose the biggest bullshit in the world."
"Their spirit was to laugh at everything and expose the biggest bullshit in the world."
Over the years, Descrambe used cartoonists to created more than 50 "bawdy" labels for his wines. He notes that half the bottles he produced featured cartoon labels while the other half featured traditional Bordeaux labels. While Descrambe sold off Château Barrail des Graves in 2008, he still makes wines under his Château Renaissance label. Three of Charlie Hebdo's most famous cartoonists who were killed in the attacks —Stéphane Charbonnier, Georges Wolinski, and Bernard Verlhac — all designed humorous labels for him.
Descrambe notes that he will continue to use their artwork on his bottles adding that "humor is indispensable — it's what makes despair disappear." Unfortunately the wines are only available in Europe and Japan. Check out out some of the wine labels below: