Treasure trove of 19th century Champagne found

PARIS — One of the world’s oldest Champagne makers has just struck liquid gold.

Pol Roger, the French Champagne house whose wine was famous for being Sir Winston Churchill’s favourite tipple, has unearthed a treasure trove of bottles lost in the ruins of collapsed cellars for more than a century. Experts say the 26 bottles so far recovered could still be drinkable, and that there may well be many more from the million or so lost at the time.

On Jan 15, construction workers digging underground found a “void.” Dominic Petit, who retires next month as cellarmaster, and his successor, Damien Cambres, widened the cavity.

“We found a lot of broken glass. Then we found one bottle on the first day, six the second and 19 on the third,” said Laurent d’Harcourt, Pol Roger’s chief executive.