They were everywhere. Today, they’re almost impossible to find

By Nathalie Baylaucq 18.10.2026

350 bottles, 40 years of searching: the delicious story of French bistros at auction

Behind the counters, on the shelves of bistros, and on French tables, they were once everywhere. Today, some bottles have become almost impossible to track down. And it’s precisely this paradox that gives real flavor to an auction announced by AIBO ART AUCTION on December 4, 5, and 6: an exceptional collection bringing together 1,350 French bottles, all different—assembled one by one over forty years.

Led by Bruno de Serbriant, the collection isn’t just about rare bottles. Above all, it showcases an era: the golden age of aperitifs, digestifs, liqueurs, and other everyday spirits. In other words, it preserves a popular heritage that tells as much about bistros as it does about tastes and habits. Each bottle that has been recovered brings a scene back to life: a vanished bistro, a forgotten distillery, a family that kept a bottle for generations, or even a decisive meeting with a passionate collector.

bouteilles de bistrot encheres

Because these bottles had another purpose. For a long time, they weren’t meant to cross decades: they were bought, consumed, and then discarded. “Without anyone paying much attention at the time,” they nonetheless accompanied several generations. Today, the ordinary banality of yesterday has become the rarity of today. Methodically preserving what seemed not worth keeping has turned everyday objects into tangible witnesses of a world that has largely disappeared.

The interest in the collection isn’t only about the drink—it’s also about what reveals it: the labels. Graphics, colors, typography, advertising copy… Each bottle acts like a small archive, like a gallery of French commercial creativity. Placed side by side, the bottles form an inventory of France of the counter: between familiar brands, local recipes, and advertisements sometimes surprising in the tone they adopt. This isn’t just about old products—it’s also about fragments of popular culture, where advertising slogans, posters, and labels were essential communication territories.

close up bouteille de bistrot aux encheres

Among the curiosities is, in particular, a “wine of beef juice,” presented as a tonic wine made from meat. Even more striking to the modern eye: its label mentioned consumption intended for children, with a recommendation to drink only one glass of liqueur. A detail that reveals the gap between then and now—and the role these products played in everyday life.

Overall, the sale includes 1,480 lots (including 1,350 spirit bottles) and is accompanied by a public exhibition on December 3, 4, and 5. The collection appeals both to collectors and to enthusiasts of the history of brands, advertising graphics, gastronomy, and French art de vivre.

Through these bottles, a bistro memory comes to the forefront: shared aperitifs, counter rituals, popular spirits, and the imagination they helped nourish. In short, it’s an auction that brings back a piece of France—not through words, but through bottles that decided to survive.