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Divers Made An Extraordinary Discovery When They Found Dozens Of Closed Champagne Boxes In A 170-Year-Old Shipwreck. Find Out How This Submerged Treasure Was Found And Its Historical Value!
A team of Polish divers made a fascinating discovery in the depths of the Baltic Sea, south of the island of Öland, in Sweden. Using sonar, the team identified what appeared to be a common fishing boat, but what they found was an unexpected treasure. The shipwreck, dated to the mid-19th century, contained more than 100 bottles of champagne, some still with visible bubbles, along with boxes of wine, mineral water, and porcelain.
Baltitech team divers Marek Cacaj and Pawel Truszynski initially expected to do a quick inspection of the site. However, the brief trip soon turned into a nearly two-hour mission when they realized they had found something extraordinary.
Instead of a simple fishing boat, what they discovered was a sailing ship with a valuable and well-preserved cargo.
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According to Tomasz Stachura, the team leader, this discovery was unique in his 40 years of experience as a diver.
Although it is common to find isolated bottles in shipwrecks, the number of intact bottles and the quality of the cargo were a surprise to everyone.
A True Treasure
Among the items found were the bottles of champagne that, interestingly, still exhibit bubbles, suggesting that the drink may be in reasonable condition after all these years. In addition to the champagne, bottles of mineral water from a German brand called “Selters”, which still exists today, were found.
Experts date these bottles between 1850 and 1876, helping to situate the shipwreck in time. At that time, mineral water was a luxury item, primarily consumed by royalty and so valuable that transports of the drink were often escorted by police.
The presence of porcelain also suggests that the ship was carrying a cargo intended for high-net-worth clients, possibly traveling toward Russia. There are speculations that the ship might have belonged to Nicholas I, the Russian emperor, who lost a ship in the area in 1852.
Other Great Discoveries
While the discovery of this shipwreck is remarkable, it is not the first time alcoholic beverages have been found in shipwrecks. In 2010, underwater archaeologists discovered a schooner off the coast of Finland loaded with champagne. Years later, a biochemist experimented with the preserved champagne for scientific purposes.
Another example occurred in 2021, when divers found a Roman shipwreck off the coast of Italy, full of amphorae of wine, which were ceramic containers used to transport the fermented beverage.
The bottles from the recently discovered shipwreck in the Baltic Sea may be in surprisingly good condition. The quality of the wine, however, depends on a number of factors, such as the sealing of the bottles and whether seawater penetrated them.
Some enology experts claim that, depending on these variables, the champagne and wine could have retained their original flavor or completely degraded.
Underwater Aging
Interestingly, some modern companies have been conducting experiments with the intentional aging of wines underwater. In 2022, the Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten submerged 1,700 bottles of sparkling wine at 111 feet deep in the Sea of Norway.
After recovering the bottles in July 2023, the wine was served to passengers, who described it as a unique experience. This success led the company to submerge another 4,500 bottles at the end of the same year.
This deep-water aging technique aims to explore the stable temperature and darkness conditions of the oceans, which may result in a maturation process different from traditional methods. Like these modern experiments, the shipwreck in the Baltic Sea offers an intriguing glimpse into how underwater preservation can affect the quality of beverages.
While the team of divers alerted the Swedish authorities about the shipwreck, the cargo is still undergoing an administrative process before being brought to the surface for more detailed analysis. Besides the curiosity surrounding the condition of the champagne, marine archaeologists are interested in studying the historical context of the shipwreck, which may reveal details about 19th-century maritime trade in the region.
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