200-Yr-Old Champagne Recovered From Baltic Shipwreck

About seventy bottles of champagne were discovered lying at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, about 164-ft below the surface, south of the Aland Islands.

The cargo is believed to have been aboard a ship traveling from Copenhagen, Denmark to St. Petersburg, Russia between 1800 and 1830. Researchers have said that the champagne could have possibly been sent by France's King Louis XVI to the Russian Imperial Court.

Some of the bottles are cracked and others, the corks have eroded, but several are in excellent condition. The cold temperatures and minimal light of the seafloor made for perfect storage conditions, preserving the quality of the undamaged bottles.

Photo courtesy of Aland Government