{"product_id":"h-hommel-champagne","title":"H Hommel Champagne White Star Champagne 1890s to 1919 Huge possible display bottle","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a huge bottle (see picture) and still corked (its empty ) so possible display.  Label is soiled and fraying at the edges but a amazing example and RARE.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMichael (Michel) Hommel was born in Rippweiler, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, on January 10, 1844. At fourteen he went to Ay, where he worked in a wine and champagne cellar. Ay is a village in the heart of France's Champagne region. By eighteen he was champagne maker for one of the largest concerns in France. Before settling in Ohio, he had worked for Longworth in Cincinnati and for Cook in St. Louis, two big names in early American wine (Cook's champagne is still sold today).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSize.\u003c\/strong\u003e Your tape shows about 16 inches to the top of the foil. A standard champagne bottle is roughly 12 inches, so this is well beyond standard and consistent with a magnum (1.5 L). Old hand-finished bottles vary in shape, so the base is worth checking for embossed marks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAge.\u003c\/strong\u003e The front label says only \"White Star \/ Trade Mark \/ Special Dry \/ M. Hommel \/ Qualité Supérieure.\" It doesn't say \"American Champagne,\" give an alcohol percentage, or list a \"produced and bottled by… Sandusky, Ohio\" line. After Prohibition ended, federal labeling rules required statements like those. Their absence points toward pre-Prohibition, roughly 1890s to 1919. That's my inference, not a certainty. Check the back of the bottle and the neck for a second label or tax strip, since the required text may be there. A later bottle sold on eBay was described as a 4\/5 quart crystal White Star American Champagne, M. Hommel Sandusky Ohio, so later versions did carry the \"American Champagne\" wording.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hommel Champagne","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54223694102825,"sku":null,"price":350.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0969\/9052\/7785\/files\/20260923_114837_ead11f19-d480-42ac-bf54-d00b90f837dc.jpg?v=1790207989","url":"https:\/\/captainaero.com\/products\/h-hommel-champagne","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}