Lot
798 
San Francisco, Cal., 29 Oct (San Francisco), large serifed cds and clamshell "Ship 6" due handstamp on incoming folded letter with United States Consul certification enclosed from Bordeaux, France and originally accompanying a shipment of wine (ten casks of claret), "Confiance" sender’s ship endorsement, letter and docket inside confirm that ship carried both the letter and the wine from Bordeaux to San Francisco, letter prepaid with France 10c and 20c Empire issues tied by lozenge cancels, "Bordeaux, 4 Jun, 55" origin postmark, Very Fine, scarce 30c rate, "Bateau de Commerce". Estimate $200 - 300.
This artifact of wine connoisseurship by California’s pioneers was sent the same year Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France’s best Bordeaux wines. Napoleon believed such a scheme would prove useful at the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris where Bordeaux wines were to be on display for
visitors from around the world. Wines were ranked in five levels according to a chateau’s reputation and trading price, which in turn reflected the quality of the wines that were produced. The 1855 classification system remains in use today.
Realized: $425