15 July 2018

Russian Art for French National Team

Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry congratulates World Champions

Andrey Filatov congratulates the French national team on winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Andrey Filatov congratulates the French national team on winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup

To commemorate the brilliant victory of the French national football team, the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFR) have established a suitable prize for the champions. Members of the world’s top team each received a unique set of Art Russe Saint-Emilion Grand Cru wine. 25 boxes of the famous Bordeaux wine with reproductions of Russian artworks on its labels were presented to members of the French national team immediately at the end of the winning match.

The French wine Art Russe Saint-Emilion Gran Cru has become widely known due to works of Russian and Soviet art used to decorate each vintage of the chateau. From Ilya Repin’s to Geliy Korzhev’s, 12 paintings dating from the 19th and 20th centuries are annually selected from the Art Russe collection to design Chateau La Grace Dieu Des Prieurs wine labels.

Andrey Filatov, member of the Economic Council of the CCIFR, President of the Russian Chess Federation, commented "We sincerely congratulate Didier Deschamps and all the players with a well-deserved and long-awaited victory – 4:2. Throughout the championship the French team played a truly champion-quality football: high-class, talented and beautiful, just like what you would expect from the greatest team in the world. This was football elevated to a form of art, much to the delight of all World Cup fans."
 
Founded in 1885, Chateau La Grace Dieu Des Prieurs is located in Saint-Emilion, one of the most ancient wine growing regions of France. In 2014-2017, the chateau underwent a large-scale transformation aimed at preserving French winemaking traditions in combination with process innovations introduced to achieve the highest quality of wine. The project was elaborated by the wine consultant Louis Mitjavile and architect Jean Nouvel. Works of Russian fine art dating from the 19th and 20th centuries are used in the design of wine produce of Chateau La Grace Dieu Des Prieurs since 2017 as part of an agreement between the chateau and the Art Russe Foundation, which owns one of the largest collections of Russian art. 2014 vintage was decorated with reproductions of paintings by Viktor Vasnetsov, Ilya Repin, Filipp Malyavin, Vladimir Serov, Nikolai Fechin, Fyodor Reshetnikov and other artists. 2015 vintage labels bear reproductions of works of Ilya Repin, Nicholas Roerich, Geliy Korzhev, Mai Dantsig, the Tkachev brothers, Pyotr Ossovsky and other masters of Russian and Soviet art. The choice of paintings for the design of Chateau La Grace Dieu Des Prieurs produce is driven by the objective to showcase the variety of trends in Russian art.