Categories: History

Ancient Wine Recovered From Shipwreck Will Soon Be Available for Interested Buyers

However, experts warn that the wine's drinkability is "questionable."

In 2010, ancient wine bottles were recovered from a shipwreck off the coast of Germany.
Experts estimate the recovered wine date back around 1670 to 1690.
Christie’s, an auctioning house, will soon be offering the wine bottles to interested takers.
The wine, however, are not drinkable, according to experts.

Christie’s will soon be auctioning 300-year-old wine bottles in London soon. According to the auction house, these will be the oldest wine bottles ever and and reports are even telling us that experts estimate the bottles probably “date back to between 1670 and 1690.”

The story of these old wine bottles began in 2010 when “a wreck site was uncovered during a survey mission of the ocean floor off the coast of Germany,” according to Christie’s. “At a depth of 40 meters (131 feet), divers discovered a decayed wreck, and buried deep in the mud in old rattan basket was found to be 14 ancient bottles.”

Due to their old age and delicate nature, one of the bottles broke during the process of excavation. Meanwhile, another was opened for testing purposes.

University of Burgundy enology professor Régis Gougeon was consulted and he later said in an official statement posted in Christie’s website:

“Our latest results obtained in Dijon confirm the liquid being a grape-based beverage due to the presence of tartaric acid.”

Gougeon further shared that the bottles had “a typical old wine signature rich in tannin degradation products” and its been confirmed that they had resveratrol, which means the bottles contain “a strong red wine.”

He also added:

“Interestingly, besides small aliphatic acids such as lactic and acetic acid, the wine still contained some amounts of ethanol.”

Most likely, the bottles will be worth around $32,942 to $38,010 and will “offered with a certificate from the owners who recovered the wine,” the site mentioned.

Those who can afford to buy it, however, are strongly being discouraged from taking a sip. That’s not exactly a good idea, said Christie’s.

As the auction house pointed out:

“The wine is extremely old and because it is not a fortified wine, it’s drinkability is questionable. This should be approached as a lot of historical and vinous importance.”