{"product_id":"antique-qualite-superieure-french-wine-label-1920s-treasures","title":"Antique 1920s French Wine Label 🍷 Qualité Supérieure Gold \u0026 Orange 3-Star Collectible","description":"\u003ch2\u003eWhere Did Three-Star Labels Come From? Three Stars That Started on a Cognac Label: An Antique Qualité Supérieure Bottle Label ⭐\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSize:\u003c\/strong\u003e 4\" x 1 3\/4\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"max-width:315px;margin:0 auto 20px;\"\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:177.78%;height:0;overflow:hidden;\"\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uD6faQNMues\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;encrypted-media;gyroscope;picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1865 the cognac house of Hennessy began marking its bottles with stars to show how long the brandy had aged, and it never registered the idea as its own. Producer after producer took the stars up, until three stars became one of the most familiar grade marks in the drinks trade. This die-cut label from the 1920s speaks in exactly that shorthand and nothing else: the words QUALITÉ SUPÉRIEURE, \"superior quality,\" and three orange-red stars on a field of metallic gold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat the Label Shows\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe label is die-cut in a winged outline. Two long curved arms sweep up and out to either side and meet at the center in a pointed shield, all inside a plain cream border. The field is metallic gold, with a fine speckled shimmer where it catches the light. QUALITÉ follows the curve of the left arm and SUPÉRIEURE the right, in small dark capital letters with their French accents. In the shield sit three five-point stars in orange-red, two above and one below, each edged on one side with a thin dark line that makes it look slightly raised off the gold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt carries no brand or maker's name, which is its character: the label speaks only in grade marks. The photographs also show the plain, unprinted side of a matching die-cut piece. It is unused and was never pasted to a bottle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e⭐ Where the Three Stars Came From\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1865 Maurice Hennessy, great-grandson of the house's founder Richard Hennessy, helped create a cognac classification that used different numbers of stars for different qualities, the classification that gave rise to Hennessy's Three Star Cognac. At the start one star marked a two-year-old cognac, two stars a four-year-old and three stars a six-year-old.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOther houses at first described their brandy in words instead, calling it pale, matured or old. But Hennessy never registered the stars as its property, and in the years that followed many producers put stars on their own labels. The habit of printing a grade as a symbol kept growing into the letter codes still found on brandy, V.O.P., S.O.P. and V.S.O.P. Three stars and the words Qualité Supérieure are both grade marks, and this label carries the two of them alone, with no house name beside them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e🌍 French Words, Many Countries\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA label printed in French is not a passport from France. French is an official language of Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Canada, so French wording on a bottle label can come from any of them. Across the Mediterranean, French Algeria built one of the largest wine industries on earth: before the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962), Algeria was the biggest wine exporter in the world, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the international wine trade. Much of its deep-colored, high-alcohol red wine was shipped to the south of France and blended with French wine. This label names no country, and it speaks the shared language of that whole French-speaking trade.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e🍷 Qualité Supérieure in French Wine Law\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe phrase has a place in the law books too. In 1949 France created a wine category called Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure, VDQS, the second-highest rank of French wine, below appellation d'origine contrôlée and above vin de pays. VDQS was eliminated in 2011, and its wines were moved up to appellation status or down to country wine. This label carries no VDQS designation: its two words and three stars are a grade mark, not a legal appellation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e🏷️ How It Survived\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA bottle label had a short life. It was glued on, the bottle was emptied, and label and glass went out together. Unused die-cut labels survive only as leftover stock.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e🖼️ Display Ideas\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n  \u003cli\u003e⭐ Float it on a dark mat so the winged die-cut outline stands clear.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e🥃 Frame it for a home bar beside a brandy snifter or a cognac decanter.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e🏷️ Group it with other French-language bottle labels as a wall of grade marks.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e📚 Keep it in an archival sleeve in a drinks label album.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e🎁 Who Collects These\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWine and spirits label collectors, cognac and brandy lovers curious about the star grades, collectors of die-cut and gold-printed ephemera, and bar and restaurant decorators who want a real period label rather than a reproduction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e❓ Questions People Ask\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat does Qualité Supérieure mean?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSuperior quality, in French.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat do the three stars mean?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStars on a bottle label are a grade mark. Hennessy began using them on cognac in 1865, when three stars marked six years of age, and many producers adopted stars after that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eIs it from France?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt prints no country; its only words are French, a language bottlers used far outside France.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eHow old is it?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt dates to the 1920s.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eIs it a VDQS label?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo. It carries no VDQS designation, only the words Qualité Supérieure and three stars.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eHas it been used?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo. It was never applied to a bottle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eHow big is it?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4 x 1.75 inches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNew Old Stock (NOS): unused old store inventory, preserved exactly as it was set aside decades ago.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"relatedBlock\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e🔎 More From The Vintage \u0026amp; Antique Gifts Archive\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/2-antique-french-patriotic-wine-barrel-label-1920s-treasures\"\u003eAntique French Wine Barrel Labels 🍷 D.M. Tricolor Flag \u0026amp; Barrel Design 1920s Charm\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/antique-1920s-1930s-cuvee-speciale-french-wine-label-unique-design\"\u003eAntique 1920s-1930s French Wine Collarette Label 🍷 Cuvée Spéciale Crowned Heraldic Crest Lithograph NOS\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/antique-1920s-st-benoit-liqueur-neck-label-yellow-treasures\"\u003eAntique St. Benoit Liqueur Neck Label 1920s Belgium 🏷️ Yellow Gold Heraldic Crest Coat of Arms\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Vintage and Antique Gifts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40906195730597,"sku":"VAG-7073496662181","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0597\/2718\/4037\/files\/il_fullxfull.3410765669_tpf8.jpg?v=1785956220","url":"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/antique-qualite-superieure-french-wine-label-1920s-treasures","provider":"Vintage and Antique Gifts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}