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In a post-apocalyptic world, humans are rare and zombies are everywhere in The Last of Us series. While nothing remains of Earth as we know it, one thing remains: Beaujolais wines.
One of the characters, Bill, suspicious in 2007, collects a certain Frank in his village-bunker.
He then serves a glass of Beaujolais-Villages from the Louis-Jadot house to the one who will become his companion for the rest of his life.
"
I even have the right to rabbit with my Beaujolais
", says delighted Frank to his host, after a close-up on the label of the bottle.
Monday, when the episode had just been released, the phones of Jadot employees were bombarded with messages.
How did this Beaujolais-Villages end up in the current phenomenon series?
“
A lot of people told us about it, but at first I didn't understand how it could have ended up in this series.
Especially since, given the close-up on the label, it looks a lot like product placement
, ”says the Louis-Jadot house.
Problem, the latter has not validated any placement in this series: “
We did a lot in the 2000s in series like Charmed or Friends.
We also placed a Macon-Village in Iron Man.
But we stopped since because it has a very high cost
".
Taken aback, the estate contacted its American importers.
Nothing on their side either.
Just like on the side of the Beaujolais interprofession which could not have favored one area over another.
An old label
Product placement ruled out, Jadot took an interest in the label of their Beaujolais-Villages served in the series.
"
This label was modernized in the early 2000s. So these are bottles prior to that date
," says the estate.
And to continue: “
We investigated with our American marketing agencies.
And this bottle corresponds well to the product placements that we were able to make in the 90s. Mainly on our entry-level products, as is the case here.
It is therefore perfectly possible that the decorators of the series used a bottle present in their stock.
For us it is the only explanation.
»
The presence of this bottle would then be a pure coincidence?
Not impossible, fortune has already smiled on the Louis-Jadot bottles that we could see in the film
Mesrine
or the more recent comedy
Champagne
without the brand having paid to appear there.
“The number one french wine”
But chance is not the only thing to sometimes do things well and the presence of this wine in a successful American series is not only due to providence.
Already because in 1945, the Louis-Jadot house was the first to export its Burgundy wines to the United States.
Then, because the Jadot house was sold in 1985 to an American family from New York, who still own the place.
Finally, because the brand has always considered Beaujolais as a Burgundy wine and not as the "
vile and disloyal Gamay
" reviled by Philippe Le Hardi and excluded from the most famous French vineyard in the 14th century.
“
We were the first merchants to vinify our Beaujolais wines ourselves.
We even created a special winery in Saint-Étienne-des-Oullières to make this Beaujolais-Villages ourselves.
Then in 1996 we acquired the Château des Jacques where we produce our Beaujolais crus with a Burgundian touch
”, explains Louis-Jadot.
A “village” extremely appreciated by Americans who even call it “the number one French wine” (the number one French wine, editor’s note).
“
Our label, which has changed very little in over 100 years, is well identified throughout the country
“, continues the Jadot house.
This is perhaps the explanation for the fleeting, but noticed, passage of the small French bottle in the American blockbuster: a wine perfectly known to Americans and present for several decades on their territory.
The episode of the series ends with a return to 2023. Before committing suicide, Bill and Frank, ill, pour themselves a glass of the same bottle as the one opened during their meeting.
A screenplay wink to underline that their couple has come full circle in its history.