Antique 1870 Chateau Lafite Rothschild Empty Wine Bottle | Cruse & Fils Frères Négociant Label | Pre-Phylloxera Blown Glass With Shoulder Seal

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Description

This is an exceptional, museum-grade piece of wine history: an authentic, empty 1870 Château Lafite Rothschild empty wine bottle. This … Read more This is an exceptional, museum-grade piece of wine history: an authentic, empty 1870 Château Lafite Rothschild empty wine bottle. This historic relic dates back to the legendary pre-phylloxera golden age of Bordeaux, produced from original, ungrafted vines before the devastating epidemic altered European vineyards forever. The front features its original paper merchant label from the elite 19th-century négociant house Cruse & Fils Frères, Bordeaux, who officially handled and bottled elite first-growth allocations during this period.

The bottle itself is a spectacular specimen of late 19th-century glass manufacturing, featuring a deep, hand-formed kick-up punt base and an applied glass shoulder medallion/seal that reads "CHATEAU LAFITE GRAND VIN" encircling a grapevine motif. The neck still retains its original gold-toned foil capsule collar around the hand-applied lip. On the reverse, a vintage handwritten cellar inventory sticker marked "61/65" remains intact, hinting at its long-term archival provenance.

While full bottles of this exact 1870 Lafite vintage represent the pinnacle of rare wine collecting—evidenced by the historic April 2026 Sotheby's New York "Immortal Vintages" auction where a pristine 1870 magnum fetched a record-breaking $200,000—empty bottles with intact paper merchant labels and crisp shoulder seals are highly coveted trophies in their own right. They serve as premier display pieces for high-end interior designers, fine wine cellars, and historic glass enthusiasts.

Details
Item Type: Antique Wine Bottle (Empty)

Producer: Château Lafite Rothschild

Négociant/Bottler: Cruse & Fils Frères, Bordeaux

Vintage: 1870

Material: Dark Olive Green Hand-Blown Glass

Origin: Pauillac, Médoc, Bordeaux, France

Age: Circa 1870 (Over 150 years old)

Reference
Book Title: Michael Broadbent's Vintage Wine: Fifty Years of Tasting Three Centuries of Wine
Author: Michael Broadbent MW
Reference Note: In his masterwork, legendary wine auctioneer and critic Michael Broadbent notes that the 1870 vintage was one of the absolute greatest pre-phylloxera vintages in history, writing that it was a powerhouse wine of immense longevity. Broadbent famously discovered a fabled cache of the 1870 Lafite hidden away for nearly a century in the cellars of Scotland's historic Glamis Castle, confirming upon tasting that the vintage achieved absolute perfection.

Curator's Note: 19th-Century Chateau Lafite Relic
This rare, empty 1870 Château Lafite Rothschild bottle is a breathtaking monument to the golden era of French viticulture. Blown by hand from original, ungrafted vines just before the devastating phylloxera epidemic permanently altered European vineyards, it stands as an elite design asset. Featuring an exquisitely preserved paper merchant label from Cruse & Fils Frères alongside a raised glass shoulder crest, this dark olive glass brings unparalleled historical gravitas to high-end hospitality spaces, corporate boardrooms, or private estate libraries. It serves beautifully as an anchor piece for a library mantel, styled within a custom-lit backbar cabinet, or clustered alongside other 19th-century glass treasures to evoke an atmosphere of timeless, old-world luxury. See less