Sci-Tech -   

1

Cork popped on 'oldest' shipwrecked champagne

Divers display what is thought to be the world's oldest drinkable champagne, estimated as being from around 1780, found in a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea. ( AP Photo/Robert Jansson)
Divers display what is thought to be the world's oldest drinkable champagne, estimated as being from around 1780, found in a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea. ( AP Photo/Robert Jansson)

View Larger Image

A A |  Email ThisEmail  | Print Facebook   

Date: Wednesday Nov. 17, 2010 6:41 AM ET

MARIEHAMN, Finland — They say a good wine matures with age. But does champagne lose its sparkle after nearly two centuries under water?

A handful of samplers were to find out on Wednesday.

Divers who salvaged the vintage bubbly from a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea were presenting more details about the spectacular find, billed as the world's oldest drinkable champagne. They also invited about 20 people to taste the vintage bubbly.

Some 30 bottles were found in the shipwreck discovered in July near the Aland Islands, between Sweden and Finland. The divers originally said the bottles were believed to be from the 1780s but experts later dated the champagne to the early 19th century.

At the time they couldn't identify the brands because the bottles had no labels. But champagne house Veuve Clicquot said in a statement Wednesday that experts analyzing the branding of the corks "were able to identify with absolute certainty" that three of the bottles were Veuve Clicquot.

Other bottles examined were attributed to the now defunct champagne house Juglar, it said.

Francois Hautekeur, of Veuve Clicquot's winemaking team, described the champagne as "a toasted, zesty nose with hints of coffee, and a very agreeable taste with accents of flowers and lime-tree."

The champagne house, founded in 1772, said the branding inside the cork featured a comet, added to pay tribute to one that crossed the skies of Champagne in 1811 "and was rumored to be the cause of a harvest of remarkable quality."

Veuve Clicquot said it used the Baltic route for shipments to the imperial court of Russia.

French champagne house Perrier-Jouet, a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard, has earlier stated that their vintage from 1825 is the oldest recorded champagne still in existence.

Share with your social Network:

Facebook DIGG Newsvine Delicious Twitter StumbeUpon Reddit Yahoo! Buzz

 

Advertisement

Contest

Today's Sci-Tech Stories

Models display a Samsung Galaxy S III, the latest smartphone in the company's Galaxy lineups, during its launching for media in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, May 22, 2012. Samsung said the phone, that has emerged as the biggest competitor to the iPhone, will go on sale in 145 countries with 296 phone companies, making it the company's biggest launch so far. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Samsung releases latest Galaxy smartphone in Europe

More

Cows are shown grazing on an organic dairy farm in Jordan, Minn., in a May 31, 2006 file photo. (AP / Jim Mone)

Massages and waterbeds boost milk output in cows

More

Surgery

Scientists, doctors use snake robots for surgery

More