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Champagne keeps its sparkle after 200 years
Source: Agencies |
November 18, 2010, Thursday
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THEY say a good wine matures with age. But does champagne lose its sparkle after nearly two centuries under water?
An expert who tasted the vintage bubbly billed as the world's oldest drinkable champagne was lyrical yesterday, detecting hints of chanterelles and linden blossom.
An Associated Press reporter, who also sampled a bottle, found a slight fizz and flavors of yeast and honey.
The champagne - of the brands Veuve Clicquot and the now defunct Juglar - was recovered from a shipwreck discovered in July near the Aland Islands, between Sweden and Finland. A total of 168 bottles were raised in the salvage operation, officials of the semiautonomous Finnish archipelago told reporters yesterday.
"All bottles are not intact but the majority are in good condition," said Britt Lundeberg, Aland's culture minister.
The divers originally said the bottles were believed to be from the 1780s but experts later dated the champagne to the 19th century.
French champagne house Perrier-Jouet has earlier stated that their vintage from 1825 is the oldest recorded champagne in existence.
After a presentation of the diving operation, an archaeologist wearing white gloves presented one bottle of Juglar and another of Veuve Clicquot to expert Richard Juhlin, who sampled both.
"Great! Wonderful!" he exclaimed. Then he paused.
"I think what strikes you the most is that it's such an intense aroma," he continued. "It's so different from anything you've tasted before."
Veuve Clicquot confirmed that experts analyzing the branding of the corks "were able to identify with certainty" that at least three of the bottles were Veuve Clicquot.
They said the branding featured a comet, added to pay tribute to one that crossed the skies of Champagne in 1811 "and was rumored to cause a harvest of remarkable quality."
Some of the bottles will be sold at auction, where Juhlin said they could fetch more than US$70,000 apiece.
An expert who tasted the vintage bubbly billed as the world's oldest drinkable champagne was lyrical yesterday, detecting hints of chanterelles and linden blossom.
An Associated Press reporter, who also sampled a bottle, found a slight fizz and flavors of yeast and honey.
The champagne - of the brands Veuve Clicquot and the now defunct Juglar - was recovered from a shipwreck discovered in July near the Aland Islands, between Sweden and Finland. A total of 168 bottles were raised in the salvage operation, officials of the semiautonomous Finnish archipelago told reporters yesterday.
"All bottles are not intact but the majority are in good condition," said Britt Lundeberg, Aland's culture minister.
The divers originally said the bottles were believed to be from the 1780s but experts later dated the champagne to the 19th century.
French champagne house Perrier-Jouet has earlier stated that their vintage from 1825 is the oldest recorded champagne in existence.
After a presentation of the diving operation, an archaeologist wearing white gloves presented one bottle of Juglar and another of Veuve Clicquot to expert Richard Juhlin, who sampled both.
"Great! Wonderful!" he exclaimed. Then he paused.
"I think what strikes you the most is that it's such an intense aroma," he continued. "It's so different from anything you've tasted before."
Veuve Clicquot confirmed that experts analyzing the branding of the corks "were able to identify with certainty" that at least three of the bottles were Veuve Clicquot.
They said the branding featured a comet, added to pay tribute to one that crossed the skies of Champagne in 1811 "and was rumored to cause a harvest of remarkable quality."
Some of the bottles will be sold at auction, where Juhlin said they could fetch more than US$70,000 apiece.
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