A bottle of Veuve Clicquot recovered from a shipwreck off the coast of Finland has sold at auction for a world record of $43,630.
145 bottles were salvaged from the Åland Islands of Finland, which separate the Gulf of Bothnia from the Baltic Sea. Bottles of Heidseick, Veuve Clicquot and Juglar – believed to be the oldest in existence – were recovered.
The Government of Åland owns the bottles. The vessel which carried the bottles was not identified, though the champagne was dated to the early 1800’s. It was speculated that the ship may have been bound for the Tsar’s court in St Petersburg.
The champagne house of Juglar was based on land which is now managed by Jacquesson. 95 of the bottles contained Juglar champagne, 46 were from Veuve Clicquot and 4 were by Heidseick.
One bottle of the Veuve Clicquot and one bottle of the Juglar were auctioned alongside lots from the Veuve Clicquot cellars dating from 1955. The auction took place at the Alandica Culture and Congress Center, Mariehamn, Åland, Finland. The auction was conducted by Acker Merrall & Condit, a United States fine wine auction house.
According to the auction house, an anonymous internet bidder from Singapore was the successful bidder for the Veuve Clicquot. The Juglar sold for $34,904. Profits from the sale will be used by the government to improve the water quality in the sea around Åland – a remote autonomous region.
Wonder what it tastes like!?
Not sure how the 200 years under the sea will have helped this one drink…