The world's leading champagne expert Richard Juhlin
samples one of the 168 bottles of champagne salvaged from a
200-year-old shipwreck in the waters off the Aland Islands near
Finland
MARIEHAMN, Finland — An
accent of mushrooms merged with sweet notes of honey in a sampling
Wednesday of what's been billed as the world's oldest champagne,
salvaged from a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea.
An expert who tasted the vintage bubbly was lyrical, detecting
hints of chanterelles and linden blossom.
An Associated Press reporter, who also sampled a bottle, found
only 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 on Wednesday.
"All bottles are not intact but the majority are in good
condition," said Britt Lundeberg, Aland's culture minister.