一瓶近200年的世界最古老香槟拍出3万欧元创纪录

A bottle of the world's oldest champagne was auctioned on Friday for a record-setting 30,000 euros (£26,700) near the spot where it was found in a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea.

The bottle of Veuve Clicquot, nearly 200 years old, was part of the booty from the shipwreck dating to between 1825 and 1830 discovered in July 2010 on the sea floor near Finland's autonomous Aaland archipelago.

A bottle of champagne from the now-defunct house of Juglar, salvaged from the same wreck, sold for 24,000 euros.

"The buyer was from Asia, and the same buyer bought both bottles," Samantha Compono, spokeswoman for the speciality wine auctioneer Acker Merrall & Condit which conducted the sale, told AFP.

She said the previous record was set in 2008, when a bottle of 1959 Dom Perignon Rose sold for 27,600 euros.

The auction event included the sale of more than 40 other exclusive bottles from the cellars of Veuve Clicquot, each fetching more than 1,000 euros.

The prices however fell far short of the most optimistic estimates.

In November 2010, when two bottles of the ancient champagne were uncorked for the world's media and wine experts to taste, champagne expert Richard Juhlin told AFP that the bottles could fetch up to 100,000 euros each.

The local Aaland government said it would donate all of the profits to charitable causes including help for the Baltic Sea environment, marine archaeology and maritime history.

The shipwrecked champagne is not the most expensive ever sold, simply the most expensive ever auctioned.

Compono said the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow offers a bottle of vintage 1907 Heidsieck for $275,000 dollars. - 03 Jun 2011

Auctioneer John Kapon stands next to the oldest champagne Photo: SARI GUSTAFSSON/AFP/Getty Images