It always fascinates me to see that we still discover wrecks ...
Divers found in a wreck lying at 55 meters (55 meters, it is not so inaccessible after all), in the Baltic Sea, about thirty bottles of champagnes dating from 1780. And the icing on the cake, the champagne would be de la Veuve Clicquot and appears to be very well preserved. This confirms the virtues of the sea for wine. The bottle is estimated at 53 euros… Enough to arouse vocations? !
More details here.
About wreck hunters, I ask myself a question: do you know what rule is applied to attribute a treasure to its discoverer (we also speak of “inventor”), in particular when the discovery is made in the international waters? I believe that on earth, the discoverer who finds a treasure on the ground he owns owns it 100% versus 50% if the discoverer finds it on someone else's land, the latter also touching 50%…? If the person has consciously sought this treasure, it belongs to the owner of the land and not to the treasure hunter. What about at sea?
Not very pleasant, Mother Clicquot, by the way, by the way ...
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BRAVO BRAVO !!!
“The bottles, which appear to be Veuve Cliquots produced between 1782 and 1788, were sent to France for analysis. If their origin and age are confirmed, they would be the oldest drinkable bottles of champagne in the world. The current record holder is a bottle of Perrier-Jouet from 1825. According to experts, each bottle could fetch around 70.000 euros in an auction.
The diver Christian Ekstrom was exploring the wreck of a boat off the island of Aaland, an autonomous territory of Finland, when he discovered the bottles. He brought one back to the surface and tasted it with his colleagues. "It was fabulous," he told Reuters. It had a very sweet taste, with aromas of oak and a strong smell of tobacco. And there were very small bubbles. "
"The dress is dark gold, amber," confirmed Ella Grüssner Cromwell-Morgan, an oenologist from Aaland who was asked by Christian Ekström to taste the precious nectar after its discovery. "The nose is very intense, with lots of tobacco, but also grapes and white fruit, oak and mead. The mouth is really surprising, very sweet but with all the same acidity. "
The discovery dates back to 6 last July, says AFP, but the team has kept the secret until then.
"We are sure at 98% that it is Veuve Clicquot champagne and that it was produced between 1772 and 1785," said Ekstrom, adding that the ship was undoubtedly heading for Saint Petersburg, then the capital of Russia. According to one hypothesis, it could be a delivery of King Louis XVI to Russian Tsar Peter the Great.
The champagne house Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin was founded in 1772, but the production was stopped during a period of 10 years after the Revolution of 1789.
The champagne wine found in the depths of the Baltic Sea has been perfectly preserved thanks to the darkness and the temperature of the environment. Local authorities will now decide what will happen to the wreckage, and the bottles. ”
SITE SOURCE SLATE.FR
In French law, the notion of treasure covers “any hidden or buried thing on which no one can justify its ownership, and which is discovered by the effect of pure chance” (art. 716 of the Civil Code). It only concerns movable things. It applies even if the object is not buried, but simply hidden from view, and if the discovery takes place in several stages. A treasure belongs to its inventor (the person who discovers it) if the latter owns the land where the discovery was made; failing this, it belongs half to the inventor and half to the owner.
If the discovery is not fortuitous, for example if the person who made the discovery used a metal detector, ownership reverts to the owner of the land (art. 552 of the Civil Code). If the search was carried out without authorization, its author is also liable to criminal prosecution.
Archaeological discoveries are subject to specific regulations.
"A cultural heritage is inalienable and belongs to society" explains Éric Rieth, head of underwater archeology at the Musée de la Marine, in Paris. And this applies to both underwater and terrestrial treasures. For the underwater part, the Department of Underwater and Underwater Archaeological Research (DRASSM) is responsible for exploiting all wrecks under French law that have archaeological, historical or artistic importance. Terrestrial treasures are equally protected. The 1989 law prohibits the use of metal detectors to search for objects "which may be of interest to prehistory, history, art or archeology" without having obtained administrative authorization.