US: A bottle of wine from an American Civil War ship that sank in 1864 has been uncorked – and was awful.
An expert said the grey wine’s “nose” was a mix of turps and sulphur, and it tasted like petrol and crab, with a hint of citrus.
Wine chemist Pierre Louis Teissedre of the University of Bordeaux - who analysed samples - said the “nose” of the wine was a “room-clearing” mix.
About 50 people bought tickets to see it decanted and tasted during a food festival in Charleston, South Carolina.
It was one of five sealed bottles recovered from the Mary-Celestia, an iron-hulled steamship that sank during the US civil war in 1864.
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The boat was leaving Bermuda with supplies for the Confederate states when it struck a reef.
Marine archaeologists diving on the shipwreck in 2011 found the bottle inside a locker in the bow.
Master sommelier Paul Roberts said: “I’ve had shipwreck wines before. They can be great. This one was not.”
