Popping the Cork On The World's Oldest Champagne

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Mar 10th 2009 at 9:02PM

Last weekend some lucky wine and champagne experts got to taste the world's oldest champagne, Perrier-Jouet Vintage 1825, at Champagne House Perrier-Jouet. According to the Head of the International Wine Department at Sotheby's, Serena Sutcliffe MW each sip could have been worth thousands of dollars depending on what the wine would have yielded at auction. The private event celebrated the release of the House's inaugural vintage of the 21st Century, Perrier-Jouet Millesime 2002. Guests included champagne expert: Richard Juhlin from Sweden; France's most famous wine critic: Michel Bettane; Roger Voss from the The Wine Enthusiast; together with wine experts from the UK, China, Japan, Italy and Finland. The event included a total of 20 historic vintages including 1846, 1858, 1911, 1964 and 1995.

Decanter reports that there are now just two bottles left of Perrier Jouët's Sillery 1825. The tasters applauded when the cork was pulled and found that the wine was oxidized and had lots its sparkle. With just the lonely pair of bottles remaining to hold on to the Guinness Book of Records certification as the oldest champagne it seems highly unlikely that either one will be opened anytime soon.

Tags: champagne, france, perrier jouet, PerrierJouet

Filed under: Wine

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

inny Mar 11th 2009 10:13AM

Champagne gets worse with age because there are no tannins in the wine.

White wines decay with age...

reds wines improve with age.

Deidre Woollard Mar 11th 2009 10:17AM

Good point, even a red wine might have trouble lasting that long.

Rafael Mar 27th 2009 6:35AM

hi,

No red wine would last for 175 years. The moment you remove the cork and the wine gets in contact with fresh air the wine is gone. Personally i keep for my collection every bottle older than 30 years i adquire.
From my experience opening bottles older than that is speeding on the highway to disapointent

just me Mar 11th 2009 11:48AM

white wines do loose some taste with age, but can still survive for a long time. If the wines are stored in barrels they last much longer than if they have been disgorged into bottles. Magnums last longer than single bottles, particularly with finer wines--even white. And you are correct, any wine from 1825 would be suspect for taste. by the way, Juhlin's books are masterful.