Excellent champagne found at the bottom of the sea

  • Thread starter Thread starter arildno
  • Start date Start date
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
Sign up Log in
5 replies · 2K views
arildno
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
Gold Member
Dearly Missed
Messages
10,165
Reaction score
138
Divers outside the Finnish island group Åland have discovered a cache of 30 corked bottles of champagne; their likely date is the 1780s, when such a gift from Louis XVI to the russian czar was sent, but never arrived.

As for the taste?
""It tasted fantastic. It was a very sweet champagne, with a tobacco taste and oak,""

Each bottle is estimated to be valued at about $70.000 or so..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100717/ap_on_re_eu/eu_sweden_champagne_find
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org

Discussion

I'm surprised that the salt water didn't seep into them. Were bottles wax sealed back then?
 
Evo said:
I'm surprised that the salt water didn't seep into them. Were bottles wax sealed back then?
Sea water tasted much better then, since you didn't have oil spills. :smile:
 
So does France, Russia or Finland get the salvage rights here, and which of the divers gets stuck with the bill for the bottle they opened?
 
Evo said:
I'm surprised that the salt water didn't seep into them. Were bottles wax sealed back then?

Wouldn't that be a likely quality security measure, in order to keep the sparkle in the champagne?
 
Someone needs to compare pressure inside a champagne bottle with pressure at whatever depth they found this cache at. Bet they're not far off if the champagne has kept its fizz and not been contaminated with water. Good job!