I know what the Titanic wine tastes like! It tastes like big money!
Three issues ago this column told the story of an amazing bottle of champagne that had been recovered by Baltic Sea divers. This unopened French champagne was the same vintage as what was likely stocked on the first (and last) voyage of the Titanic.
Missed the piece? Earlier this year a team of Swedish divers working in the Baltic Sea recovered a cargo of champagne and cognac from the remains of a wooden freighter sunk by a German sub back in 1916. The ship named Jönköping was carrying a cargo of 5,000 champagne bottles named "Heidsieck monopol gute american 1907" (the same brand and year that apparently was stocked on the Titanic) and was bound for the Tsar of Russia's troops stationed in what is now Finland.
The champagne is from 1907 and, aside from test bottles held by French wineries, is the oldest drinkable champagne left in the world. The champagne has been lying in total darkness and in near freezing temperatures (a constant 1° Celsius) at the bottom 64 meters down. So far the deep divers have salvaged 535 bottles of champagne and several barrels of bad tasting cognac. The diving is reported to be very demanding due to the cold water conditions and one meter visibility.
The champagne was bought and brought to Canada for resale at Toronto's Gourmet Food & Wine Exposition. It was the premier bottle in an auction for the Sick Children's Hospital.
The bottle was expected to sell for at least $10,000. However, on the night of the sale, the Heidsieck couldn't hold that price level. In fact four friends, one of them reputed to be a relative of Lord Thomson of Fleet, paid just over $4,000 for the bottle.
Minutes after purchasing the wine, the four called for a bucket of ice and a tray of flutes. The Heidsieck was quickly chilled and then opened. 90 years later the uncorking still made a pop and the wine still had a fizzle.
The buyers drank their fill and then poured samples for a select fewyour writer included. And how did it taste? Marvellous.
Although 1907 was reportedly not a great year, this champagne had a clear, sweet taste, oddly different from the wines of today.
Toronto's Pain, Lake Erie's Gain
Plans for the sinking of a shipwreck near the Toronto Harbour have been quietly laid to rest. A combination of lack of funding and a dearth of volunteers are two reasons cited for the end of this project.
However, Toronto's loss is Lake Erie's gain. The Port Dover chapter of the Save Ontario Shipwrecks has embarked on an ambitious proposal to acquire a shipwreck and sink it in the eastern end of Lake Erie.
The Port Dover area is blessed with many shipwrecks and divers from across the province and the northern United States are making this one of the most popular fresh water destinations in North America.
The SOS are hoping that a new ship will take pressure off existing historical shipwrecks and also encourage dive tourism to the area.
Dive The Net
Those were the days, my friend, we thought they would never end and they don't on the net. Interested in looking at scuba equipment from the days of yore? Check out the vintage scuba museum at http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Rapids/3001/collect.html.
The worldwide network of webcams (cameras that continually download images onto the Internet) is now pointing underwater. Never mind the cheesy organ music, on a cold winter's day it is fun to watch the sharks in the Hawaiian aquarium. You too can watch at: http://www.ctv.es/ USERS/ebano/home.htm-home.htm. The British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) continues to track and post information about dive accidents. They recently put on the Internet a list of known incidents for 1997-98. This no-cost extensive report can be accessed at: http://www.bsac.com/techserv/increp98/intro.htm.
DIVER Magazine spotted the following item on Yahoo News: Navy finds the sunken treasure of Charles I"Marine archaeologists announced the discovery of what they believe to be the treasure-laden wreck of Charles I's baggage ferry, the Blessing of Burnt Island. Lost in a storm crossing the Firth of Forth in 1633, the ship was loaded with the king's priceless possessions. Twenty carts loaded with the King's personal possessions from his hunting palace at Falkland were aboard. The wooden ferry was also carrying a 280-piece silver dinner service commissioned by King Henry VIII and other ornate tapestries, silks and trappings for Charles's coronation tour of Scotland.
Details of the wreck, 120ft down and one mile off-shore, are to be disclosed at Kinghorn, Fife. According to defence sources the wreck, buried under several feet of silt, matches the size and shape of the barge and there is "growing optimism" it is the Blessing of Burnt Island.
The wreck is said to lie at the very point fixed last May by the successful English map dowser Jim Longton. He sailed the route of the ill-fated vessel with his metal divining rod and pendulum.