We were recently the lucky recipients of a case of Ségla wine (pictured above) from one of our dear friends. But what does that have to do with fashion, you might ask? A lot.

Few people know that Chanel, or more specifically the Wertheimer family behind Chanel, also invests in wine. They purchased Château Rauzan-Ségla over two decades ago, one of just fifteen original Margaux Deuxième Crus, an exclusive list which includes better-known Pichon Longueville, Léoville-Barton, Cos d’Estournel and Lascombes. As a result of their efforts, the Wertheimers have been widely credited for reviving the winery to its former glory and pushing the quality of their fine wines to new highs.

However, it was not always to be: the Wertheimer’s originally intended to buy superstar Premier Cru neighbour Latour, but they were beaten to the punch by Francois Pinault, founder of PPR group (now Kering) which also owns various fashion labels including Gucci, Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent. Not to be outdone, the Wertheimer’s ultimately decided on this 350 year old winery instead and proceeded to poach the top winemaking talent at Latour!

For Château Rauzan-Ségla’s 350th anniversary (2009), the House of Chanel asked Karl Lagerfeld to design the label. (pictured below)