Antique Wine Bottles
Oct 26th, 2009 by admin
Maybe you are asking the question “What is the point of collecting antique wine bottles?” If so, you have come to the right place as this whole article is trying to give a convincing answer to that question.
Virtually everyone can understand the beauty of collecting liquor bottles as they are very interesting visually, like Jim Beam bottles are. It’s harder with collecting wine bottles. Despite that, collecting of antique wine bottles is very popular hobby with many passionate fans, some of them prepared to pay huge sums of money for the most valuable bottles. The reason they do it is the great pleasure for looking at such a beautiful object and having it in your home collection. You can admire beautiful bottles dating centuries back in the comfort of your living room. You might show your collection to your friends. These are just few reasons why collecting of antique wine bottles is such a wonderful hobby
Interesting facts from history of antique wine bottles
Wine has not always been carried in glass bottles. Wine used to be kept in small, round, green bottles. It wasn’t until 1640s that glass was used to store wine.
vintage wine bottles
The appearance of wine bottles has changed over time. During the 18th century bodies of wine bottles became thinner and more cylindrical in shape which was made their storage easier. Wine bottles could be made by machine for the first time in 1820. Until then they were all hand made and that’s why they have such a huge value.
Many of the early bottles were unmarked which makes it hard for researchers today to determine their exact origins. Fortunately, some of the vintage bottles had labels which included name of the owner or a town and the date bottle was made. These details are incredibly important for treasure-hunters, researchers, historian and collectors today in figuring out who was the author of the bottle, whom was the bottle made from, when was it produced and what it’s value and price should be today.
Collecting antique wine bottles might be the most demanding type of wine collecting. Collectors and experts who advise them value these bottles according to 2 most important factors: scarcity of this particular model or piece of bottle and it’s age. Generally, there is a simple rule, more unique and older the antique bottle is, the more precious and expansive it is. These bottles can often evoke colorful and emotional pictures in the minds of collectors, such as the image of a long dead connoisseur savoring a glass of wine poured 250 years ago.
Rare wines and their bottle
There are many people who enjoy collecting rare wines, but antique wine bottle collectors are more interested in the wine bottles than the wines themselves. The main reason for that might be that empty wine bottles are more affordable than those filled with expansive fine wines. For example, a bottle of 1945 Lafite Rothschild can cost you $1,400 or more. However, you might be able to pick up an empty 1945 Lafite Rothschild with a slightly tattered label for about $30. The other reason might be that empty antique wine bottles are easier to store than the ones filled wit wine. The conclusion is clear, if you’re interested in the bottle itself, don’t waste your resources by buying it with the antique wine in it. It’s too old to drink anyway!
Labeled Antique Wine Bottles
While some people choose to remove wine labels from bottles, it is always better if you decide to keep the bottles and labels in their original condition. You have a wide range of choices if you decide to collect labeled wine bottles. You may just keep bottles from your favorite brands or go for bottles produced in foreign, maybe even exotic countries. Some people like to collect labeled wine bottles produced in places where wine is harder to produce. Others like to focus on the artwork of the labels themselves or collect only painted wine bottles. You may concentrate only on wine bottles produced in particular country, region or time. If your favorite wines are generally pinot noirs, you may end up with a collection of a variety of pinot noir bottles.
I hope I’ve convinced you in this article that collecting antique wine bottles is a great hobby and that you will at least give it a try. I can guarantee you that you are starting a very enjoyable journey. Once you make a decision about the direction that your wine bottle collection will take, you will be able to scour the world and perhaps sip your way into a beautiful display of bottles.
We have a green wine bottle with a raised monkey “hugging” the bottle. On the bottom is a G and an A the number 52 is at the top and it says 0,7L on the bottom. Any ideas of the value or origin?
I have a case of 1928 Perrier-Jouet (Epernay) Extra any information as to historical significance or value?
Based on your entry, I am curious to know, how much are bottles worth once the cork is ruined and the wine is gone?
I’m curious because I came across another blog (I included the link, http://welovegarbage.wordpress.com) by a guy who owns a rubbish removal company in Queens, New York. He created this blog to document all of the cool trash finds he preserves and keeps in his office after clean-out and demolition jobs in the five boroughs. His most recent post displays a 1969 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, a Bordeaux that is selling on random Web sites for at least $1,000. But wouldn’t bottle-collectors still want money for this trash-collector’s find?