LONDON: In 2010, scuba divers discovered 168 completely intact bottles of French champagne on a shipwreck at the floor of the Baltic Sea off the coast of Finland. Now believed to be the oldest bubbly ever sampled, the lucky folks that did so report it was still drinkable and tasted smoky sweet with hints of tobacco and leathery flavors, Discovery News reports.
Biochemist Phillipe Jeandet, a professor in the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Reims who has analyzed the early 19-century bubbly, says there were surprising amounts of copper and iron in the wine. The copper most likely came from copper sulfate, which vintners used to kill mildew and fungus on growing grape vines, the report said. The nails used to hold the wooden storage barrels together probably account for the liquid’s high iron content, he said.
Even after 170 years lying some 165 feet deep in the ancient sunken cargo vessel, the champagne corks had not deteriorated because, scientists say, there was liquid both inside and out. And, according to Andrew Waterhouse, an expert in wine chemistry at the University of California at Davis, the corks were denser than ordinary wine corks so they could withstand the pressure of carbonation, which helped maintain the quality of the champagne.
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