Expert: Paul Wagner - 3/11/2011

Question
I have a bottle (and pictures upon request) of J Normandin - Mercier Cognac Cres Vieille Grande Champagne. Attached to the bottle is a signed certificate by Jules Normandin with french typing on it. The bottle appears to be very old, but there is no date on it. The certificate has the company logo saying it was Fondee in 1872. The bottle looks like it was sealed with wax and then stamped on the top. The certificate reads " Cette Grande Champagne provient d'une vielle reserve familiale transmise de pere en fils apres la fondation de la maison en 1872 per mon arriere grand-pete. I'm trying to establish a value for the bottle as we are going to auction it off this Saturday March 12th 2011 in a fundraiser to benefit a non-profit organization. Please get back to me as soon as possible.

Answer
HI Nicole

This is a nice bottle of Cognac, really nice, but it won't have appreciated in value the way some fine wines do.  The alcohol level is too high for this stuff to change much in the bottle.  So it's lovely, but it isn't worth much more than a current bottling of the same.  And the date is the year the company was founded---it does not refer to the product in the bottle.

I've seen this advertised from anywhere from about $170-250.  The XO version is more expensive.

Hope that helps.

Paul Wagner