In the Swinging Sixties, Blue Nun's sweet, fruity and uncomplicated profile was instrumental in destigmatising wine (All photos: Luen Heng F&B Sdn Bhd)
Hark, hark! Blue Nun is once again gracing us with her holy presence. As the poster child of Liebfraumilch, a sweet white wine from the German Rhineland, the saccharine vino certainly lives up to its translated name, “Our Dear Lady’s Milk”. The peculiar moniker originates from the vineyards surrounding Liebfrauenkirche, the Church of Our Lady in Worms, Germany, of which the wine’s smooth, gentle and sweet quality evokes the milk of the Virgin Mary, so it is said.
Those who have had a taste of Blue Nun — most likely from the Swinging Sixties to the eighties — would recall the wine’s omnipresence, a commodity as fashionable as bell-bottom jeans, go-go boots and big hair. Its heyday is largely attributed to vintner Peter Sichel, scion of the H Sichel Söhne empire in Mainz. In his pursuit of spreading the gospel of easy-drinking wine to Americans, who only socialised with cocktails prior, Sichel championed Blue Nun as an all-purpose alternative that could be enjoyed “right through the meal”, taking the guesswork out of dinner parties, thus saving novices the humiliation of a mismatched pairing in front of a boss or date.
Why the bizarre name, you ask? The original emblem featured a quartet of nuns set against a sprawling field of vines. The azure sky was originally the only blue detail in the design but an inadvertent printing error caused the colour to bleed into the nuns’ habits. Instead of demanding another print run, they retained the quirky error and it became the established brand’s image.
While it would be sacrilegious, in every sense, to liken Blue Nun to holy water, its sweet, fruity and uncomplicated profile was instrumental in destigmatising wine, previously the preserve of the upper class. Plus, no other bottle has served as a fountain of so many tales, spanning espionage to history and pop culture.
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The force behind Blue Nun himself first found success as a spymaster. When the Nazi party took control of Germany, Sichel’s parents left for France, setting up new offices for the business in Bordeaux and London. In 1939, while he was visiting his parents, the Axis forces conquered France and his family was interned. However, they were able to escape, crossing the Pyrenees on foot and making their way through Spain and Portugal. Sichel was said to have bribed a border guard with a Montblanc fountain pen to gain passage to New York. Soon after, the stripling enlisted in the US Army.
Fluent in French and German, Sichel was recruited into America’s intelligence service, then called the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency. He primed guerrillas for the French Resistance and ran agents in Germany, using prisoners of war to spy against their own country. During this period, he crossed paths with the likes of Jack Hemingway, son of Nobel and Pulitzer Prize author Ernest Hemingway, and screenwriter Peter Viertel of the 1951 film The African Queen fame. After the war, Sichel was posted in Berlin and Hong Kong to gather intelligence on Soviet and Chinese operations.
He left the agency in 1960, returning to his family business. Sichel’s marketing nous mobilised classic comedy duo Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara (also parents of Ben Stiller) for its commercials in the US. There is a photo of Rod Stewart holding a bottle of Blue Nun while talking to David Bowie backstage at Madison Square Garden. The Beastie Boys produced a track, The Blue Nun, that features a sample of Sichel himself discussing wine and if you listen closely to The Beatles’ wistful Long, Long, Long, the rattling sound towards the end of the tune was indeed caused by a bottle of Blue Nun vibrating on top of a speaker cabinet. “Blue Nun Goes Everywhere” was the title of one of its advertising campaigns in the 1970s. Evidently, the brand’s reach expanded exactly as its slogan promised.
Its popularity rose quickly but, unfortunately, faded just as fast. As palates became more discerning and wine drinkers sought to move upmarket, Blue Nun became passé and petered out, perceived as mere vin ordinaire and a totem of nostalgia. Eventually, Sichel sold his family business to another German company, Franz Wilhelm Langguth Erben, in 1995, which updated the label and introduced new cuvées, including a Blue Nun 24K Gold Edition aperitif with actual 24-carat gold flakes floating within. Last year, the business was acquired by Les Grand Chais de France (GCF). Sichel, ever the raconteur, detailed his incredible journey in his memoir The Secrets of My Life: Vintner, Prisoner, Soldier, Spy. He passed away in February at the grand old age of 104.
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Datuk Kenneth Soh, managing director of Luen Heng F&B Sdn Bhd, fondly recalls the bottles of Blue Nun stocked in his late father’s sundry shop, which opened a year before Malaysia’s independence. Blue Nun was one of the first wines imported into the country, making its reentry through Luen Heng particularly sentimental for Soh, who calls it “a full circle moment”.
During a visit to Kuala Lumpur to celebrate its relaunch at Kampai KLCC, the new representatives of Blue Nun, including GCF group owner Laurence Helfrich, key area director Maxime Boureille and marketing manager Solène Schneider, revealed plans for a refresh.
They elaborated on the moves necessary to accommodate the change in consumer preferences, especially among the younger generation, who generally take less alcohol. “[Blue Nun] is a style of wine that young people like. It’s easy to drink, a little sweet. There’s a new trend where everybody is into light and fresh reds, that’s why we launched Chill Red,” said Schneider.
With notes of cherry and currant, Chill Red is a fruity, easy tipple made for the modern imbiber. Best served cold, the new wine features thermochromic ink on the label, which turns colour when it is appropriately chilled to 8°C to 10°C.
“We are also working on new products, such as canned wine, which targets young consumers for outdoor consumption,” Schneider continued.
“You don’t see much wine in cans in the Malaysian market now, and it’s true for most of the countries in Asia. But it’s booming in South America and we think that trend will come here soon,” Boureille added.
It seems like the primary demographic has not strayed far from that of yesteryear. For the uninitiated, simplicity and accessibility are really all the checked boxes needed for a fun night out. While Blue Nun’s cloying profiles may be a turn off for serious oenophiles, those with a soft spot for sweet wines and nostalgia will be happy to know that its full range will officially be available in September.
This article first appeared on Aug 18, 2025 in The Edge Malaysia.
