What Recession ? Some Pricey Bubbly !

“Two bottles of the world’s oldest Champagne, which spent about 170 years at the bottom of the ocean, sold for 54,000 euros ($78,400) at an auction in Finland today.

The second lot, containing vintage Veuve, fetched 30,000 euros, which the auction house — New York-based wine specialist Acker Merrall & Condit — said was the most paid for a bottle.

“The important thing for this event is that this was a world record for an auction,” Richard Juhlin, an authority on Champagne, said in an interview after the event. “I’m a little surprised the bidding didn’t go higher. If you had speculators bidding against each other, it could have sky rocketed.”

Collectors have been paying higher prices for Champagne, especially for prized vintages, said Juhlin, who had forecast that the bottles might fetch 100,000 euros, 10 times the minimum price of 10,000 euros. Bidders applauded at the Veuve price, given by the same Singapore-based Internet bidder who minutes before gave 24,000 euros for a bottle of Juglar.”

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