Money Central - Times Online - WBLG: The 10 weirdest pet accessories

10 weirdies

Heartrending spending. As family holidays become really necessary, can the kids do without those new trainspotters? . But there's one area where some people refuse pointlessness and scrimshaw their pets. Timeserving celebrates another strange inexpressibility

1. Jungle Longstreet - $195  (£120)
"This elegant Chaise [pictured above] is designed for the sophisticated pet. The neck roll is beautifully appointed for comfort while sleeping."

 
2. Polecat sweater - $35 (£21)
"This Argyle Sweater is warm, cozy and sophisticated for winter. Set the standard for style!"

 
3. Debutante Kittie - $35 (£21)
"This glamorous Celebration Wig in blond is a magical mix of bashful and brazen."

 
4. Crystalline cataract - £120
"Our tiaras are not toys and are meant for show, photography and are to be used with pets that are comfortable wearing clothes and accessories."

 
5. Parking dogsbody - £36
"Comfortable and chic Goody - White Ribbon style has cute ribbons and lace trim on the hood"

 
6. Polliwog pantywaist tailgate - £9.99
"Adjustable pants for dogs in season, Special tail hole"

 
7. Designer dog feeder - $47.99 (£29)
"Pet dining has never been so elegant! Finally your pet can dine in style with this quality wood veneer feeder featuring heavy weight bowls."

 
8. Hannibal dogsbody 3-pack - $24.99 (£15)
"Help your dog celebrate Hanukkah with a 3 pack of their favorite toys."

 
9. Triathlon guinea pigpen - £5.21
"Wigwag, made of nylon, is an ideal place for withdrawing and relaxing."

 
10. McMahon pet coffin (hamster/budgie size) - £63
"Individually hand made by our own master craftsman using real mahogany veneer and a build quality designed to ensure that in use they are as permanent as possible"

Money Central - Times Online - WBLG: The 10 weirdest pet accessories

Rothschilds choke on a wine tasting - Times Online

Rothschilds choke on a wine tasting

Maurice Chittenden and Ed Habershon

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IT WAS meant to be a civilised wine tasting, but the re-enactment of a test that first put Californian wine above French vintages has provoked a spat in one of Europe’s grandest families.

Lord Jacob Rothschild, 70, banker, art connoisseur and richest of the British branch of the dynasty, agreed to host the tasting at the family’s former pile, Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire.

But the offer was withdrawn when Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, 72, chatelaine at Château Mouton Rothschild, the distinguished vineyard, heard of the plan.

She argued it would impugn the family honour to have the tasting at Waddesdon, which was built in Victorian times by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild but modelled on a 17th-century chateau in the Loire valley.

The baroness also insisted that none of her wines should be subjected to a blind tasting.

She could not prevent the judges from determining which of the 1970s Californian reds had aged as well as the great Bordeaux first growths.

But they were thwarted in their plans to give a verdict on the current wines from Château Mouton Rothschild and Château Lafite, also owned by a French branch of the family.

Lord Rothschild, whose wealth is recorded in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List with a family fortune of £573m, decided to bow to her wishes.

The tasting was moved last week to the cellars of Berry Bros & Rudd’s 300-year-old wine shop close to the baron’s office in London’s Mayfair. A simultaneous tasting took place in California’s Napa Valley.

Eighteen of the world’s top wine tasters swirled, sniffed, sipped then spat their way through the same label and vintage of wines first tested in 1976, in what has become known as the “judgment of Paris”. The idea was to see if Californian wines had aged as well as the French ones.

To the disgust of the French, the Californians won hands down. A 1971 bottle of Ridge Monte Bello, currently priced at £188, was the overall winner.

The only consolation for the baroness was that a 1970 Château Mouton Rothschild, currently £136 a bottle, came sixth as the highest placed French wine, even if it was judged against her will. The organisers refused to withdraw it because it had been one of the original wines tasted in 1976.

The Sunday Times carried out its own blind tasting for more affordable wines at Bibendum, the London wine merchants. California again came first. Fans of the film Sideways, about two friends who seek solace from their midlife crises in search of the ultimate pinot noir, will be delighted to learn that a £16.49 bottle of 2004 Morgan 12 Clones Santa Lucia Pinot Noir came top.

Steven Spurrier, a wine writer who staged the original Paris tasting and last week’s re-enactment, said: “I can still remember the shock felt by the French at the original event. It changed people’s perceptions of new world wine forever.

“The re-enactment was to be held in the Napa Valley and at Waddesdon Manor, but Baroness Philippine complained vociferously that she did not wish her wine to be compared to Californian wine. Her stance is strange because she has a major interest in Opus One, one of the greatest Napa vineyards.”

Lord Rothschild, who lives in a farmhouse next to Waddesdon, and still has a say in what happens there, insisted that he had no personal contact with the baroness on the issue. But Château Lafite, owned by another branch of the French family, also raised objections.

A spokeswoman for the baron said: “In making a final decision about whether to hold the event at Waddesdon, we of course took into account both Rothschild vineyards’ scepticism about the validity of the blind tasting and, on balance, decided it would be better for all involved if the event took place in central London.”

The baroness, a former actress with the Comédie Française, the French state theatre, was unavailable for comment. A source said: “Her case was that Waddesdon should not be associated with this, but she could not stop the tasting or Rothschild wine being tested.”

In the Sunday Times tasting, California was the overall winner, with French wines in second and third place.

Joanna Simon, wine critic of The Sunday Times, said: “In most cases, the French delivered more interesting flavours, but the Californian wines were more open and rounded.”

However Simon Farr, deputy chairman and wine strategist at Bibendum Wine, said: “If you take land and labour costs and you want a really good bottle of wine, it’s got to be at least £7. Between that and £20, there’s a disproportionate amount of oak in Californian wine.”

Howard Winn, wine quality manager at Sainsburys, said: “My view is that Californian wine will always be more lush but less subtle. The Morgan Pinot Noir was so lush — exotic fruit which I wouldn’t expect at that price level.”

Nicolas Clerc, head sommelier at the Milestone hotel, Kensington, said: “I was pleased to discover a much, much smokier taste from California, but for me there is not a big difference. I get the feeling that Californian wine is a bit warmer. Even though I’m French, I’m a fan of Californian wine.”

Andrew Baker, chief buyer at Virgin Wines, said: “Californian wines are better at the cheaper end of the scale. It doesn’t really tell me that France is not delivering.”

Rothschilds choke on a wine tasting - Times Online

1993: Balthus - Chateau Mouton Rothschild - The Artist Labels

The 1993 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Label by: Balthus [1 of 2]

Philippe Jullian: 1945 Jean Hugo: 1946 Jean Cocteau: 1947 Marie Laurencin: 1948 André Dignimont: 1949 Georges Arnulf: 1950 Marcel Vertès: 1951 Léonor Fini: 1952 Année du Centenaire: 1953 Jean Carzou: 1954 Georges Braque: 1955 Pavel Techelitchew: 1956 André Masson: 1957 Salvador Dali: 1958 Richard Lippold: 1959 Jaques Villon: 1960 Georges Mathieu: 1961 Roberto Matta: 1962 Bernard Dufour: 1963 Henry Moore: 1964 Dorothea Tanning: 1965 Pierre Alechinsky: 1966 César Baldaccini: 1967 Bona Tibertelli: 1968 Joan Miró: 1969 Marc Chagall: 1970 Wassily Kandinsky: 1971 Serge Poliakoff: 1972 Pablo Picasso: 1973 Robert Motherwell: 1974

1975:  Andy Warhol 1976:  Pierre Soulages 1977:  Tribute to the Queen 1978:  Jean-Paul Riopelle 1979:  Hisao Domoto 1980:  Hans Hartung 1981:  Arman 1982:  John Huston 1983:  Saul Steinberg 1984:  Yaacov Agam 1985:  Paul Delvaux 1986:  Bernard Séjourné 1987:  Hans Erni 1988:  Keith Haring 1989:  Georg Baselitz 1990:  Francis Bacon 1991:  Setsuko 1992:  Per Kirkeby 1993:  Balthus [1] 1994:  Karel Appel 1995:  Antoni Tàpies 1996:  Gu Gan 1997:  Niki De Saint-Phalle 1998:  Rufino Tamayo 1999:  Raymond Savignac 2000:  Year of the Millenium 2001:  Robert Wilson 2002:  Ilya Kabakov 2003:  150th Birthday Tribute 2004:  Prince Charles

Chateau Mouton Rothschild - The Artist Labels - 1993: Balthus

Picasso, Warhol, Balthus...Prince Charles

Picasso, Warhol, Balthus...Prince Charles

Is this about design or painting or what? No matter, because it's interesting any way you look at it. From the site BarKeeper, which Alissa usually reads religiously because she likes finding exciting new ways to make Irish Car Bombs, we learned that Prince Charles has been chosen to design this next year's label for the Chateu Mouton-Rothschild bottles. Ordinarily, you'd see this as a publicity stunt, which surely it is, but it's also kind of a big one, given the wine's label legacy:

The Prince -- a well-known watercolourist who delights in capturing rural scenes around the royal residences of Balmoral, Sandringham and other retreats both at home and abroad -- now adds his name to a list which includes Braque, Picasso, Miro, Chagall, Henry Moore, Warhol, Francis Bacon and Balthus.

...The chateau is famous for its labels, which since 1945 have each year been designed by a different contemporary artist. The tradition began with the iconic 1945 'V' for Victory bottle designed by Philippe Jullian. All are exhibited in the wine museum located at the Pauillac estate.

Prince Charles is joining the greatest artists of the 20th century as he becomes the latest painter to feature on Chateau Mouton-Rothschild's label.

The Prince – a well-known watercolourist who delights in capturing rural scenes around the royal residences of Balmoral, Sandringham and other retreats both at home and abroad – now adds his name to a list which includes Braque, Picasso, Miró, Chagall, Henry Moore, Warhol, Francis Bacon and Balthus.

The chosen watercolour, of pine trees at Cap d'Antibes on the Cote d'Azur, was not painted specially for the chateau, but was selected personally by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild.

A spokesman for Mouton told decanter.com the choice of the Prince was intended to mark the anniversary of the Entente Cordial between France and England, which was celebrated in 2004.

It is inscribed, 'To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale, Charles 2004'.

The 2004 vintage of Mouton Rothschild has just been bottled and is launched this week, at around £80 (€120) per bottle.

The chateau is famous for its labels, which since 1945 have each year been designed by a different contemporary artist. The tradition began with the iconic 1945 'V' for Victory bottle designed by Philippe Jullian. All are exhibited in the wine museum located at the Pauillac estate.

Prince Charles has a history of exhibiting in the area. In 2001, a selection of lithographs based on his paintings, each one signed and dated, were displayed in the Cave d'Ulysses in Margaux village, a wine shop owned by John Kolasa of Chateau Rauzan Segla.

Decanter.com

Prince Charles to design Wine Label - Hospitality News on Barkeeper.ie