A bottle of champagne that had lain under the sea for 200 years was last month finally opened and tasted by a panel of wine experts.
The world's oldest champagne let loose an accent of mushrooms, merged with notes of honey. One expert, who tasted the vintage bubbly, detected hints of chanterelles and linden blossom.
The collection of 168 bottles - of Veuve Clicquot and the now defunct Juglar - was recovered in July, from a shipwreck near the Aland Islands, between Sweden and Finland. Most of the bottles were intact and in good condition. The bottles at auction may fetch more than £44k apiece.
Not bad for a sparkling vino that some wags reported as “fungus fizz”.
