This blog post is dedicated to dreamers and artists
Let me just start with the fanciful background… Last Summer, I had one of my greatest honors. I’ve been working with winery doctors, lawyers, and CEO chiefs, since early 1993. In the process, some have come along with whom I’ve easily aligned. Each has serve a unique purpose in my life. These kinds of parallels cannot be denied. This is what I felt, when I was introduced to Georges Duboeuf, in his living room. Words weren’t important, instinctively I knew Georges Duboeuf was one of those.
[Pay special attention to colors I’m using with my photos, if you’re a visual artist.]
So many people in the wine business have come from generations of already established successes. Vintner Georges Duboeuf was not one of them. Yet, Georges childhood was magical, as shaped by his creative intelligence. He started as a farmer in the vineyards, which then came to be a segment of his related wine talents. This began with the passing of his father, when he was only two years old. Imagine, then, the odds of his actually achieving international successes, in his 86 years, which he did.
When his father passed, Georges, his brother, and his mother went to live with his maternal grandmother, on neighboring land to the Duboeuf property, which his mother had inherited. Georges’ life, as tough as that was for a child, was still allowed the luxury of having time to fantasize, in an adjoining shed. This is where he created a fantastical, miniature hamlet, from which he would one day create in real life form… Hameau Duboeuf.
[I’m using my photos, just absorb the colors, if you’re a visual artist.]
Hameau means “hamlet.” And so, Georges Duboeuf was able to slowly create the life-sized version, at his winery. It includes a train station and an engine, a museum, theaters, and carnival type ride (similar to the tilt-a-whirl), a photo booth (which puts your image on a bottle of Gamay), delicious French cuisine, a small wax museum of French dignitaries, wine artifacts, glass creations, on and on. The Hameau Duboeuf is an amazing, life-size representative of that tasteful and fanciful child’s imagination. It’s a “must do” in Beaujolais.
PHOTO
[These colors are the successful color palette for the 2019 creative label, of Nouveau Beaujolais.]
CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE IS CALLING YOU
A label design, befitting this joyous endeavor, celebrating Nouveau Beaujolais, one of Georges Duboeuf’s gifted introductions. Recognizing creativity in others, each year, a lucky artist is chosen for his or her label design. Will YOU be the next person? In 2019, Laura Runge (below) was that inspired and lucky person. Following her journey made me wish I had taken up painting, another one of the loves in my life… Probably Georges,’ too.
My photos are the colors of last year’s label; flowers in my neighborhood, and greenery with a blue sky in Beaujolais; the colors which inspired Laura Runge, the 2019 winner.
How will YOU interpret a Nouveau Beaujolais wine?
If you’d enjoy reading more of Georges Duboeuf’s life, from his biography. Meanwhile…
RULES AND REGULATIONS ~ Opens For Submissions
Eagerly Anticipated 2020 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau Label Competition
Record Number of Submissions Expected in Competition’s Fourth Year
On Monday, March 2, 2020 at 12:01 a.m. (EST), the Georges Duboeuf Artist Label Competition officially began accepting submissions, from talented artists online at, www.NouveauLabelContest.com.
Since its inception in 2017, more than 2,000 aspiring and established artists have vied for the honor of seeing their work on over one million bottles of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau each year (as well as Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau and Beaujolais Nouveau Rose). Now in its fourth year, the competition is poised to be the biggest one yet as artists present their original works for the chance to adorn the iconic wine bottles upon their release this November. In addition, the winner and runners-up will receive grants totaling nearly $5,000.
Artists who are legal residents of the U.S. and over the age of 21 are invited to submit label designs that reflect the fresh, youthful and vibrant nature of Beaujolais Nouveau, celebrated as “the first wine of the harvest” – a bright, juicy, fruit-forward wine that is released on the third Thursday of November each year (this year on November 19, 2020).
According to Dennis Kreps, who with his father, Stephen D. Kreps, co-owns Quintessential Wines (the family owned-and-operated exclusive importer of Les Vins Georges Duboeuf in the US),
“We’re very pleased with the growing popularity of the Georges Duboeuf Artist Label Competition, and have been amazed by the creativity of entries… many of them… reflect the essence of the wine and the legacy of Georges Duboeuf, Beaujolais’ ‘merchant of happiness,’ who first brought Nouveau to the world.”
Georges Duboeuf is a family owned-and-operated winery in the heart of the Beaujolais region of France with a rich history of collaborating with artists to create iconic labels. The 2019 Artist Label winner from Texas, Laura Runge, drew her inspiration from the celebratory feeling that Beaujolais Nouveau embodies. Her “Joyous Crush” painting featured beautiful, bold colors with fruit names such as grape, tangerine, peach and cranberry to depict the harvest in France with deep pinkish-red and purple tones mimicking the colors of the wine, and greens and blues to reflect the earth and sky.
“It has been a dream come true seeing my art displayed on over a million bottles of Georges Duboeuf wines,” says Laura. “Since winning the competition I’ve reignited my passion for art and welcomed so many new opportunities that I may not have had before.”
The Georges Duboeuf Artist Label Competition was created to support the creativity of emerging artists all over the U.S. The complete list of rules and regulations are on the competition’s website (www.NouveauLabelContest.com). Making a submission indicates that the artist has agreed to all the terms of the competition. Once the submission period ends, a panel of art experts will select no more than 15 finalists, taking into consideration “comments” and “likes” on each entry from visitors to the site.
The finalists’ works will be incorporated into the Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau wine label format and returned to the site on or about April 15 for voting by consumers via Duboeuf’s Social Media platforms, through April 30, 2020. The artwork receiving the most “likes” wins the top prize. Artists are encouraged to post the submission to their own social media channels to maximize voting.
For further information on the 2020 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau Artist Label Competition, please contact Quintessential via www.quintessentialwines.com, customerservice@quintessentialwines.com, or call 707-226-8300.
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