# Shipwreck champagne, raised (and drinkable) decades later **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 19, 2018, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shipwreck-champagne-raised-and-drinkable-decades-later/818202 "2018-07-19T13:55:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shipwreck-champagne-raised-and-drinkable-decades-later/818202/1 "2018-07-19T13:55:13Z")
> **[Veuve Clicquot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veuve_Clicquot)** > > Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}49°15′24″N 4°01′30″E / 49.2565777°N 4.0250534°E / 49.2565777; 4.0250534 > Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin (French pronunciation: ​\[vœv kliko pɔ̃saʁdɛ̃\]) is a Champagne house founded in 1772 and based in Reims. It is one of the larges... See the “Shipwrecked bottles” subheading. Whodathunkit? That article includes a link to this similar salvage incident: [Föglö wreck - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%B6gl%C3%B6_wreck) The biggest sale at auction was 30,000 euros for a single bottle (US$34,800 at today’s exchange rate). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shipwreck-champagne-raised-and-drinkable-decades-later/818202/2 "2018-07-19T18:48:30Z")
“Decades”. I appreciate your almost English-like gift of subtle under-statement. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shipwreck-champagne-raised-and-drinkable-decades-later/818202/3 "2018-07-19T19:05:56Z")
“In Europe, a hundred miles is a long way. In America, a hundred years is a long time.” - Mark Twain ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shipwreck-champagne-raised-and-drinkable-decades-later/818202/4 "2018-07-19T20:14:44Z")
Huh. I would have thought the sea water would have gone through the corks. Higher levels of sugar, lead, arsenic and copper. hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shipwreck-champagne-raised-and-drinkable-decades-later/818202/5 "2018-07-19T22:07:06Z")
I remember a TV news spot where divers had recovered some wine (brandy, perhaps) from a shipwreck that was hundreds of years old. The presenter pointedly said that they were about to show the diver tasting the wine ‘without benefit of translation’ and the diver duly tasted the wine and spat it out as dreadful as the salt water had got in. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shipwreck-champagne-raised-and-drinkable-decades-later/818202/6 "2018-07-20T00:15:52Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Huh. I would have thought the sea water would have gone through the corks. I think the key is depth. These were reasonably shallow. I recall hearing long ago about cases of hooch being seen in the Titanic debris field, but they would almost certainly be ruined because of the depth and water pressure. Just a guess. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shipwreck-champagne-raised-and-drinkable-decades-later/818202/7 "2018-07-23T20:32:18Z")
Champagne bottles are at pressure. According to a quick google search, the pressure within an average champagne bottle is 70 - 90 psi. Every 30 ft of water is 14.7 psi; therefore, a champagne bottle that is less than 140-180 feet below the surface would have enough pressure within the bottle to prevent sea water from getting in.