Champagne

Champagne — marelibri

White House History Presidential Seal Great Western Champagne Bottle from Official Dinner Undated

rif. 9914White House champagne bottle undated documents the material culture of presidential entertaining through an object reportedly distributed at a White House dinner. Formal White House dining has historically served both ceremonial and diplomatic purposes with official dinners used to extend presidential hospitality and in the case of state dinners to honor visiting heads of state or government. Without documentation identifying the particular dinner represented here the bottle is most useful as evidence of White House hospitality commemorative presentation and the material objects associated with presidential social functions rather than as an artifact attributable to a specific administration. Green champagne bottle measuring approximately 8 inches high with a large etched white Presidential Seal on one side and the manufacturer's name "Great Western Champagne" on the opposite side. Great Western originated with the Pleasant Valley Wine Company in New York's Finger Lakes region where its sparkling wine acquired the Great Western name in the nineteenth century and became an established American sparkling-wine brand. The etched seal visually connects the commercial bottle to its reported White House use distinguishing it from an ordinary retail example. The bottle is reported to have been given at a White House dinner; no accompanying documentation date menu guest list or presidential attribution is described. Wine has occupied a documented place in White House entertaining across successive administrations and surviving service objects can illuminate the ceremonial and social practices surrounding presidential hospitality. Because the exact dinner remains unidentified its strongest documentary value lies in the combination of commercial Great Western branding and White House Presidential Seal decoration rather than in any unverified association with an individual president or diplomatic occasion. No specific defects reported; near fine. A tangible piece of White House dining culture that preserves the intersection of presidential ceremony American wine production and official hospitality. unknown