Press release by Visit Åland January 17th 2011:

In the summer of 2010 divers discovered an old shipwreck in the Åland archipelago. In a successful salvage several bottles of champagne were lifted from the seabed. It soon became clear that the bottles were from the famous champagne houses Veuve Clicquot and Juglar. When re-corking the almost 200 years old bottles a third brand has now been discovered. It is the well-known Heidsieck brand, and the bottles are the world’s oldest existing champagne made by Heidsieck.

According to experts some of the champagne is dated back to the late 1820´s and other bottles are considered to be from the early 1830´s.

Most bottles, 95, were made by Juglar, a now defunct champagne house where producers Jacquesson exist today. The number of bottles found made by Veuve Clicquot is 46, while four bottles of Heidsieck have been found. The Government of Åland is the owner of all bottles.