In 2010, divers raised from the bottom of the Baltic Sea 168 bottles of 170-year-old champagne. Sensation attracted the interest of scientists, because, after analyzing samples of the drink, they would carefully examine the winemaking practices of the XIX century, and at the same time to reveal some aspects of everyday life, and those who drank wine.
Philip Jandia (Philippe Jeandet), lead author of the new study, received at its disposal only two milliliters raised from the seabed of champagne, but it was enough to make scientific conclusions.
It tells Jandia and his colleagues in a paper published in the journal PNAS, Ocean preserved exquisite drink surprisingly well.
The fact that the bottles were sealed in the beginning of the last century, scientists have identified for engraving on traffic jams. In 2011, two of the 168 bottles were sold at auction for € 30,000 each. 11 more bottles were sold in 2012, and the money was sent to fund scholarships in projects on maritime archeology. The remaining bottles may also go under the hammer.
It was previously thought that the bottles sailed on a merchant ship in the Russian Empire, but the level of sugar in the drink suggests otherwise. Champagne, destined for sale in Russia, as a rule, had more than 300 grams of sugar per liter, while in bottles from the bottom of the Baltic contained less than half this amount.
This means that champagne, probably intended for sale on the German market, where they sold moderately sweet wines. As explained Jandia, even by today’s standards, these drinks would be too sweet for consumers, as the most popular to date sparkling wine (brut, or very dry) contains only 10 grams of sugar per liter.
Also analyzes showed that the fault is raised from the seabed, contain relatively high concentrations of metals such as iron and copper. This may indicate that the winemakers of the XIX century used in fairly large quantities of juice from the second pressing of grapes that were more low-quality.
The share of ethanol in champagne last century was lower – 9.5%, whereas on the labels of modern sparkling wines often flaunts figure of 12%.
The presence of tannins in the wood beverage XIX century indicates that the process Fermentation took place in barrels. Secondary fermentation is in which is usually removed the sharp taste and smell of malic acid, also had to take place in barrels. However, these processes has been no such strict control as it is today, and this affected the quality of the drink, the researchers note.
“As a result of the XIX century wine turned wine, which does not meet modern standards of quality drink” – tells Jandia. Professional tasters describe the taste of champagne found as “cheesy”.
Initially when tasting wine also possessed a strange taste “wet hair” and notes “the smell of animals,” as the experts. However, oxygen enrichment (after a short rotation in a glass of wine) has opened up new more pleasant note in the taste of the old champagne – tasters noted “roasted”, “sharp”, “smoke” and “leathery” flavors in the drink. Scientists explained that the flavors and taste of the drink helped keep deep conditions: almost complete darkness and constant temperature of 2-4 degrees Celsius.
Let’s add that not only scientists, but also specialists in winemaking also conducted their experiments, inspired this finding. Representatives of the famous house Veuve Clicquot, which today produces expensive champagne, reported that they were placed in the same place on the seabed 350 bottles with their wines and drinks will taste the taste of every three years. The characteristics of these “seasoned ocean” compared with those drinks that are stored in the cellars of Veuve Clicquot at standard conditions. Perhaps this experiment will allow modern winemakers to develop a new method of storing sparkling and other wines.
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