I am not a drinker, in actual fact I have never consumed alcohol willingly in my entire life, but I found this story that is interesting and fascinating.
Nearly 200 years ago, a ship which most believe was bound for Germany from Russia and sank in the Baltic sea. This happened in the early 1800's.
How they know this is by the seals on the corks which show that it came from the champagne houses Veuve Clicquot, Ponsardin, Heidsieck and Juglar (renamed Jacquesson & Fils in 1829).
a. a picture of the shipwreck, a 2 masted schooner 21m x 6.5m broad
b. the bottles as they were found
c. the possible route they were supposed to be taken on
d. the cork's seals
There were 163 bottles found around 50m under the water, where the temperature was a steady 2 - 4 degrees celcius, which is in fact the perfect conditions for aging wine.
The reason they believe it was headed for Germany or France and not Russia is because at the time, Russians liked their Champagne really sweet (from the notes of Madam Clicquot) , and although the bottles they recovered were relatively sweet, they were not sweet enough for the Russian market at the time.
In fact the Russians were said to keep a bowl of sugar on the table to add to their drinks because they liked the sweetness so much.
But these bottles, after nearly 200 years, were as Philippe Jeandet of the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, France said “Overall, our analysis confirms that this champagne has kept the intrinsic characteristics of what a champagne is,”.
Quite a great find.
Was it decent?
Oenologists (a fancy name for those that study wine and the making of it) opened 3 of the bottles and tested the contents. The words used to initially describe the taste were “sometimes cheesy”, with “animal notes” and elements of “wet hair”!
What. The. Hell?!?! Wet hair? Who even knows what that tastes like? I almost feel like this is just making tasting of things like this a made up thing....wet hair...really!
Get you some of this flavour!
Credit
Anyway, after they had swirled the champagne around in a glass, thus airing it out somewhat, they said the champagne was grilled, spicy, smoky and leathery with fruity and floral notes.
That sounds a little better.
In actual fact they even took a few ml of the liquid into labs to test it, and they said it was good champagne that had aged 6 - 8 months in wood barrels, but had aged very well over the 200 odd years it sat in the ocean.
Oldest and most expensive bottles in the world
Until they discovered these bottles in 2010, the oldest ever tasting of champagne was in 2009, where Perrier-Jouet opened an 1825 vintage from its cellars, saying the 184 year old champagne still tasted really good, with notes of truffle and caramel.
Now they have these bottles from just before then, that have also been under the Baltic sea for 200 years. It makes it an appealing sell.
In fact the selling price for one of the bottles on auction fetched a whopping 30000 euros ($43900 or R622000)in Finland!!
It was bought by an anonomous buyer from Singapore and there were special boxes made for them (at that price I would expect them to be lined with GOLD!)
Special boxes made for the most expensive Champagne in history
I'm sure the rest of the bottles will also fetch crazy high prices, and the discoverers of this would not be benefiting too much from it because the local government claimed the bottles for themselves.
This made such a stir among the wine and champagne world, that there are now companies that are manufacturing their wine and champagne then putting them into boxes made for the ocean....allowing them to age in the same environment as those bottles found in 2010 in the Baltic sea.
Historical finds like this tend to allow us to think a little about the past....catching a glimpse into the world that is long past.
It is interesting, it is a great learning experience and to some it is also financially beneficial.
Hope you enjoyed this discovery.....I found it quite fascinating.
Cheers