Baltictech Association, a group of divers who promote the Baltic Sea as the most interesting place to explore shipwrecks claim they saw more than 100 bottles of champagne and baskets of mineral water in clay bottles at a depth of 60 meters, in the ship on its way to Russia. It was stocked with goods for Tsar Alexander II. In all likelihood the champagne has been produced by Louis Roederer founded in Reims in 1776 and started making sweeter Champagne for the Russian tsars a decade later. It could be the well-known Cuvee known as Cristal that was produced then exclusively for the tsars.

The wreck rests 20 nautical miles south of the Swedish isle of Öland- outside Polish territorial waters. So the discovery comes under Swedish jurisdiction, according to Forbes which reports the shipment could have been produced between 1850 and 1867. According to the team leader Tomasz Stachura, Russian Tsar Nicholas I had reportedly lost a ship in this area around 1852. Renderer’s trade with the Russian Tsar’s court started to flourish during the reign of Alexander II, after the Paris Peace Treaty of 1856.

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It is not the first time that Champagne has been discovered in shipwrecks in Europe. In 2010, divers found a sailing boat wreck in the Baltic Sea with a stash of 168 bottles of 170-year-old champagne. 64 well-preserved bottles of Veuve Clicquot (VCP), Juglar, and Heidsieck Monopole Champagnes from 1831 and 1840 fetched around €110,000 at an auction.

Sweden, has also been informed. For now, it remains uncertain when or if the liquid treasure on the seabed will be recovered. PG

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Tomasz Stachura, leader of the expedition is one of the most active wreck divers in the Baltic Sea. He specializes in low depth underwater wreck photography and has taken thousands of underwater pictures of Baltic wrecks.

Subhash Arora