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The world's oldest drinkable and most expensive champagne is unveiled in a Russian restaurant in Singapore. The wine was found in an shipwreck in the Baltic Sea and put to auction in Finland. Here's more.
What was meant to be a romantic gesture turned the world's oldest drinkable champagne into the world's most expensive.
The bottle Veuve Clicquot champagne, believed to be 170 years old, was bid on by Ravi Viswanathan for a record $40,402 USD in an auction. It was meant as a ten-year wedding anniversary present for his wife.
The bottle was part of a treasure of 145 wine bottles found by divers exploring a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea in 2010.
It is now part of a large collection of wine in a Russian restaurant in Singapore.
When asked if it would ever be drunk, restaurant owner Julia Sherstyuk-Viswanathan said they are waiting for the perfect occasion.
[Julia Sherstyuk-Viswanathan, Restaurant Owner]:
"It will definitely be drunk. It was never meant to be bought and resold after, it's not for investment. My husband doesn't believe in keeping wines. He wants to open them to enjoy with his friends, maybe with clients. Maybe it will be at a charity event. We don't know yet."
All 145 bottles in the shipwreck were opened, tasted and re-corked. The best two bottles were bought by Buyan, a Russian restaurant that also boasts a collection of 20 bottles of the world's most rare vintage wines.
[Ravi Viswanathan, Owner of Priciest Drinkable Champagne]:
"So what happened was that they were all tasted and then re-corked, so we know which ones are the good ones. The government of the islands decided to sell two bottles, which were among the best ones among the collection. So we have no doubt about them."
One of the privileged few that had a taste of the bubbly said it was an emotional moment...
