Champagne

Divers have recently uncovered what might just be the world’s oldest champagne (which hasn’t turned to vinegar) in a shipwreck off the Baltic Sea. They celebrated by popping open a bottle even before they made it back to dry land.

Christian Ekstrom, a diving instructor, has said that the champagne is thought to be from the 1780s and was likely on its way to Russia before it met its fate. The origin of the wreck has not yet been determined.

“We brought up the bottle to be able to establish how old the wreck was,” he said at a press conference, “We didn’t know it would be champagne. We thought it was wine or something.”

He went on to say that the diving team was ecstatic when they popped open a bottle after hauling the find up some 200 feet (60 meters) out of the water.

“It tasted fantastic. It was a very sweet champagne, with a tobacco taste and oak,” Ekstrom vividly explained.

The wreck was discovered near the Aland Islands, between Sweden and Finland last Tuesday. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 bottles of the prime bubbly are thought to be aboard the sunken derelict ship.

Ekstrom has said that the age and authenticity of the champagne is beyond refute, however samples have been sent off to private laboratories in (where else?) France for testing. “We’re 98 percent sure already because of the bottle (we found),” he explains.. But then, wouldn’t your judgment be a little off after drinking a bottle of bubbly with some friends?

Stay Tuned for the outcome!

Wonder what that would go for on Ebay?

This is definitely one for the history books, at least when it comes to wines. There are some wine-makers which are set to uncork a brand new vintage of custom wine with they have just drudged up from the bottom of the sea. This is a rather unique idea, and is the first time that a wine maker has attempted such a feat.

The wine they will be debuting is known as the Abyss sparkling wine, and it has been matured at the bottom of the sea off the Italian coast for a year. The reasoning behind letting the wine mature in that location, is that they believe that the natural currents in the area moving the bottles constantly, along with the temperature changes, will make for a supreme flavor enhancer.

There were more than 6,000 bottles of the Abyss sparkling wine dragged to the surface by divers this week. They utilized special sea bed cages which finally found there home 200 feet beneath the waves near Chiavari.

All this is rather interesting, but how does it taste? One diver had this to say on the flavor of this unique vintage, “It’s delicious. Really fruity and with a very distinctive taste”

The wine maker came up with this unique idea for making wine, after having sampled a bottle of wine which came from a shipwreck that had been at the depths of the ocean for over a decade.

(admin notes=I must admit that the wine would be interesting to try but I am guessing that it might become hard to come by with a mere 6000 bottles produced.)