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Polish divers have found a shipwreck with more than 100 bottles of champagne in the Baltic Sea off Sweden. It was discovered around 20 nautical miles (37 kilometres) south of the island of Öland. From mineral water bottles from the German bottler Selters, which were also part of the cargo, the age of the wreck could be dated to between 1850 and 1867. As mineral water was a very exclusive product at the time, which, according to Tomasz Stachura from the Baltitech diving group, was "treated almost like medicine" and "only found its way onto royal tables", it is reasonable to conclude that it could have been a delivery for the Russian tsar's court. There are reports that Tsar Nicholas I lost a ship in the area in 1852. Baltitech specialises in searching for sunken ships in the Baltic Sea.
Remnants of writing on the corks of the champagnes point to the champagne house Louis Roederer, which was one of the main suppliers to the Tsar's court, explained Stachura. As champagne in the 19th century was significantly sweeter than today, especially for the Russian market, it could have been well preserved by the sugar. Brandy was also often added to it at the time. The constant cold and darkness 58 metres below sea level were perfect storage conditions, said wine author Henry Jeffreys. Depending on the condition of the corks, some bottles could still be edible, even if they had probably lost their carbon dioxide by now. "If you want to store champagne for over 150 years, the seabed is a really good place," said Jeffreys. For the time being, the bottles will remain in the wreck until Swedish authorities and underwater archaeologists have completed their investigations.
Back in 2010, divers recovered 168 bottles of Veuve Clicquot, Juglar and Heidsieck Monopole champagne from a shipwreck off Öland. They were filled between 1831 and 184o. 64 particularly well-preserved bottles were auctioned off for social causes on the island and realised around 110,000 euros. When tasting a bottle of Juglar, the experts were amazed at the quality, freshness, flavour and length of the champagnes.
(al / Source: spiegel.de, BBC, dpa)