UPDATE: Shipwrecked Champagne sells for record price

Last Friday, Acker Merrall & Condit hosted an auction sponsored by Veuve Cliquot to sell Champagne discovered in a shipwreck off the coast of Åland,(an archipelago between Finland and Sweden) last summer.

The bottle, identified as Veuve Cliquot (circa 1820-1830), was sold to an anonymous Internet bidder from Sigapore. The hammer price for this rare bottle was €30,0000 ($44,025). The same buyer also purchased a bottle from the, now defunct, Juglar House for €24,000 ($35,220).The BBC reported that Åland officials would like to make thee Champagne auction a yearly event in order to boost tourism.

For more information on the auction, check out Acker Merrall & Condit's web site.

Shipwrecked Champange to be auctioned

Last year, diver found a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea, just between Sweden and Finland. Among the wreckage, they discovered 146 bottles of Champagne, baring no label. Upon further testing, experts were able to confirm that 46 were from, none other than, the house of Veuve Cliqout. Perfectly stored on the sea floor (180ft), in ideal conditions, the Champagne was deemed still drinkable. Aaland wine expert Ella Gruessner Cromwell-Morgan, whom Ekstroem asked to taste the find, said it had not lost its fizz and was "absolutely fabulous". "I still have a glass in my fridge and keep going back every five minutes to take a breath of it. I have to pinch myself to believe it's real," she said.

Next week, on June 3, Acker Merrall & Condit with partner with Veuve Cliquot to host a historic auction. Two of the shipwrecked bottles will be up for bidding with a starting price of 10,000 Euro. I wish I could even afford to look at the bottles. Best of luck to all of the bidders!


To read the entire articles, check out the links below:

230-Year Old Champagne Found

Acker Merral & Condit Auction