Expert: Paul Wagner - 8/26/2006

Question
I have a bottle of wine with what appears to be an old label that reads: Societe Philomatique, XIII Exposition de Bordeaux, Nationale/Internationale/Universelle, Diplome d'Honneur..small words that are difficult to read and then signatures from le Secretaire General and le President, 1895.  Is there some history behind this?  Is this truly a bottle of wine?  Does it have any value?


Answer
Hi Kathleen:

The bottle you have may or may not be good wine--you haven't given me enough information about that.  But the Societe Philomatique XIII Exposition de Bordeaux did, in fact, meet in 1895, and there were hundreds of awards given out.  It is possible that your wine was made by a chateau that won one of those awards, or even that it was given out to the attendees--although I think that is very unlikely.

What else does the label say?  Is this a smaller label on the neck, or is it the full sized label on the main part of the bottle?  Those keys will help me give you more information.

Paul Wagner