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September 28, 2014 9:34 pm
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French Winemaker Accused of Discrimination After Label Designed by Famed Israeli Artist Found Missing From Website

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avatar by Algemeiner Staff

The missing 1984 wine featuring artwork by Yaacov Agam on the bottle.

A prestigious French winemaker has come under fire after it was discovered that a label designed by Israeli artist Yaacov Agam is the only one absent from its online display of bottle art going back to 1945.

Ron Agam, Yaacov’s son, said that he suspects that his father was singled out by Château Mouton Rothschild “because of his Israeli connection” and called on the company “to acknowledge the truth and come clean.”

He said the discovery was “like a betrayal” to his father who is 86 “especially that he had considered the Mouton Rothschild wine Company, a supporter and a friend.”

Agam junior said his father “has always exposed his Judaism and connection to Israel, and it’s a main attribute of his persona. He is the most famous Israeli artist of all time.”

Ron Agam blamed the omission on a “culture of denial and boycotting Israeli culture is now very prevalent in Europe and certainly in France were Arab interests are huge.”

“Most super luxury hotels in Paris are owned by Qatari and Arab interests, and they are very important clients to any luxury brand,” Ron Agam told The Algemeiner.

The slight was first discovered by Jerusalem Post writer Adam Montefiore, who, in an article earlier this month about Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, who led the company until her death in August, wrote, “Incidentally, all the labels between 1945 and today are printed on their website, except one. The 1984 wine, with the Agam label, is not there. I don’t know why the only one missing is the one with an Israel connection.”

In an email to Agam junior seen by The Algemeiner, a representative of the winery apologized and blamed the exclusion on an “unfortunate technical malfunction on which we are working.”

But Agam was having none of it.

“The article in the Jerusalem Post was written on Sept 4th, I found out about it coincidentally on Sept 26… any webmaster could repair this error in 10 minutes,” he said. “I personally don’t know if this ‘malfunction’ was there for a few years before. My experience and intuition when dealing with issues of this kind is that when they get caught, they try to cover up for their stupid intent.”

Although the Rothschild family has Jewish origins, many of the family members are no longer Jewish today. “However, as a nod to their Jewish roots, they do produce a kosher cuvée of Mouton Cadet,” the Jerusalem Post said.

Agam said the company must now “admit that it was not an ‘unfortunate technical malfunction’ but a rogue attitude and fire the responsible people involved in this episode.”

A screenshot from Château Mouton Rothschild's website showing the missing Agam bottle artwork. Photo: Screenshot.

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