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Auctions

World's oldest champagne, recovered from shipwreck, to be auctioned June 8th

World's oldest bubbly to be auctioned on June 8th

by Michael Cavanagh | June 7th 2012 | 10:00 am

Around 150 years ago off the southwest coast of Sweden and Finland, the Baltic Sea claimed another victim trying to navigate its icy waters. To the depths fell an unknown ship, its crew and cargo to remain at the ocean floor for eternity – except that in July 2010, a group of divers explored the underwater world near the Åland Islands and discovered the shipwreck's valuables 50 metres beneath the surface.

A bottle of 150-year-old shipwrecked champagne to be auctioned off by Artcurial, Briest – Poulain – F. Tajan

Now, French auction house Artcurial, Briest – Poulain – F. Tajan will offer those rare items to collectors and connoisseurs at a sale in the Åland capital of Mariehamn. Shipwrecked treasure alone would make this a noteworthy sale, however, the treasure exhumed from the ocean floor is a rarity of rarities. 145 bottles of Champagne from the famous houses of Veuve Clicquot, Heidsieck and Juglar were among the items recovered. Not only were the bottles old, but they also remained intact, the contents still palatable. In fact, Champagne expert Richard Juhlin has overseen the re-corking of the lot, tasting and validating their status in the process.

In what is a stroke of good fortune for the bottles, the atmosphere in the depths of the Baltic Sea made for a perfect cellar: cold and damp with little to no light. Plus, the underwater depth kept the liquid under constant pressure. Those conditions have now resulted in the world’s oldest Champagne, available for purchase at the end of the week.

On June 8th at 3 pm, the venerable auction house will make available 11 bottles from the discovery – six from Juglar, four from Veuve Clicqout and one from Heidsieck & Co. In addition to Juhlin’s diagnosis, wine experts Laurie Matheson and Luc Dabadie were fortunate to taste one of the Veuve Clicqout bottles, remarking on what an incredible experience it was. We all would surely count our blessings to drink sunken treasures.

More about the sale at the auction house webpages