Recent find : French full wine bottle dated 1944 opinions please

[-Decerf-]

Hello gentlemen,


I picked up this old bottle of wine recently. I was found in an old mansion clearance here in West-Flanders.

Since I know it is French bottle I know this may not really belong on this forum section.
On the other hand I am sure the German soldiers loved to poor this bottle down their throat so that is why I posted it here
I think it makes a really nice item for display, question is if it is a genuine unopened 1944 Chateau Croque-Michotte 1er Cru Saint - Emilion ?

I am by far a wine connoisseur so therefore I would appreciate any comments greatly.

The glas texture, lable and metal top seem to be period and so does the dirt on the bottle and lable.


Santé


Jim

[-Decerf-]

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[Viewfinder]

It sure looks good to me ! Wouldn't you just love to taste it !!

Robert Gerard

[james m]

Back when I lived in the Midwest I used to regularly attend Christies vintage wine auctions. If you were a regular and signed up you could attend the tastings which were held the morning of the auction and we used to regularly get to try wines from all periods spanning back to the Civil War.
I cut way back on my wine cellar when I re-located to the Southwest many years ago but I still have some older vintages including a bottle of Port dated 1887. It was bottled in England as was usual at this time. The Bottle also states "Jubilee" as this was Queen Victoria's 50th year on the throne. I had two bottles at one time but we drank the other one and , Yes, it was still good!
Jim

[Dufleuve]

Port ages better than wine.

I very much doubt a 1944, even a St-Emilion would be drinkable, unless it has been in the same perfect cellar all this time.

Anyway, if it is genuine, it may have a collector value. Who knows ?

[james m]

Your right in that the cellaring it received will make a big difference into whether it's drinkable.
However some additional points I can see with this bottle.:
It doesn't appear to be a "leaker" so the cork is probably still intact. It's also apparently not ullaged(partially empty) and appears to be still full so the only way to really tell if it's good or not is to open it. Another clue is the label is still fully attached and this is generally not the case with poorly stored wines.
Jim

[-Decerf-]

Thank you for the useful comments so far gentlemen. The bottle seems still to be completely full and the label is still nicely in place. I wouldn't personally open a 70 year old bottle of wine but I guess this depends from person to person. Can somebody give my any clue on how valuable this bottle of wine could be. Also not to forget is the "1er Cru " and of course 1944 which to me is one of the most important and significant years to mankind history.

[ZAM]

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/cr...nce/1944/-/-/r

[jujuy]

Don't think that a german soldier ever touched this bottle, maybe green fruit grapes only.
Why? The grapes are put in fermentation in september and wine is aged at least two years before being put in bottles.
That means a 1944 vintage may have been on the market in 1946 or 1947

[scotty1418]

I'd think there is definitely some collectability due to the age rather than drinkability.

[jujuy]

Obviously Undrinkable!

I'd think there is definitely some collectability due to the age rather than drinkability.

[-Decerf-]

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/cr...nce/1944/-/-/r

€ 250 for an old bottle of wine ? Is this a representative amount or just what the seller would want for it ?

[-Decerf-]

Don't think that a german soldier ever touched this bottle, maybe green fruit grapes only.
Why? The grapes are put in fermentation in september and wine is aged at least two years before being put in bottles.
That means a 1944 vintage may have been on the market in 1946 or 1947

Good, logical point. I didn't mean that this particular bottle was " in hands of a German soldier" . I tough it would make a nice item for display so that is the reason for this post. Thanks for your comment !