Life's Too Short For 'Cheap' Wine!

One thing I enjoy about 'birding' as much as anything is the opportunity of sharing this stimulating and rewarding hobby with others. Since hooking up with Mark Hill, a self confessed novice (aren't we all?), we have shared a number of days in the field. Today was to be similar as long-standing friend Paramedic Adrian Baker (no relation) had asked if we could have a day birding together. A delight to be out with another 'prodigy' under mild conditions with brief periods of sunshine and little wind and what better start to his list than

Waxwing. There had been no report of the birds frequenting Winchester Close on the Dorset Bird Club web-site yesterday, but as they had been present for quite a few days now it was worth a try. c5 of them were waiting for us, and later in the day Mark texted to say there were in fact c6 - brilliant! From there we headed to Lodmoor, and approaching from the Weymouth Bay Avenue entrance immediately happened upon these 6

Collared Doves.

Further down the track we found a pair of feeding Bullfinch, the male only allowing for a shot. Around three sides of the reserve Ady showed he was no 'greenhorn', identifying many of the common birds on the way but needed a little help with a

Little Egret and Redshank which obliged by showing in the same frame. Walking the southern perimeter it appeared that

Lapwing numbers had once again increased with just

this single closing to a respectable distance.

Shelduck, common here, were also playing the game, and just for once I managed to capture the

beautiful shimmering blue on this Magpie wing.

Lesser Black-backed Gull also seemed to have increased in numbers while there were also c4 Black-tailed Godwit, a dozen Dunlin, Green & Great Spotted Woodpecker, c5 Common Snipe plus at least 20 Long-tailed Tits in small foraging flocks.

At Ferrybridge we encountered this pair of Red-breasted Merganser, which tolerated us for about 10 seconds

before flying off in a cascade of water.

On the fore-shore were what was estimated to be about

300 Dark-bellied Brent Geese in company with

c166 Mediterranean Gull of various ages - I love 'em!

Before departing, and heading for home, we lingered to take in the view that is the Fleet, the Oyster Beds and Chesil Beach looking to the north east.

With a case of McGuigan's Black Label (Merlot) secured, thanks to Paul Harris, and a case of Charlie Herring (Tau Syrah), still under Jim the Medic's stair, awaiting delivery (total cost £320) I started to ponder a slightly more expensive bottle, which I hastily add never touched my lips, and the story behind it.

The Champagne Wreck

and its dramatic salvage

The two-masted schooner Jönköping was built in Sweden in 1896 with a length of 20 m, she had a 16 HP engine and could take 100 tons of cargo.

In 1916 she left the Swedish port Gävle heading for Finland, which at the time was Russian territory. German naval flag This was her 10th journey, and this kind of trade was usually profitable during the war years. But not this time. In the Baltic Sea, near Rauma off the Finnish coast she was stopped by the German submarine U22. Since the ship carried some railroad material, i.e. war materials, she was sunk, by either a dynamite charge or the submarine's deck gun. She was certainly not sunk by a torpedo, which was claimed by press articles – torpedoes were expensive, torpedoes were "overkill" on minor wooden ships, and had a torpedo been used just toothpick-like fragments would remain.

Discovery

In 1997 the ship was located on 64 m depth, using side scan sonar. During the search, another wreck was also found, the Swedish
steamboat Ägir, that was sunk by the same sub on the same day in 1916. But only the Jönköping was interesting this time. Trimix divers went down and observed that the hull is perfectly preserved in one piece. Only the masts are down, and there is a small hole in the hull, from the sinking.

The reason for the wreck search was the ship's main cargo. She was loaded with 4400 bottles of 1907 Heidesieck Champagne "Goût Americain", 67 large barrels of Cognac and 17 regular barrels of wine. This was mainly intended for officers in the Russian army. Some champagne bottles were brought up. They were opened and, reportedly, tasted excellently. Apparently the corks had withstood the pressure and the dark ice-cold water served as wine cellar. The search team now hopes that also the barrels have held tight.

This is just a precis of the full story which can be found at:-

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.se%2F~pa%2Fuwa%2Fchamp-en.htm&rct=j&q=jonkoring%20champagne&ei=XcBKTa-5KImY8QOw8fTCDw&usg=AFQjCNFE6u8hfwV4FQCvIBIBi92-q1C92A&sig2=Q46WDsLHkNPJGwzalxKmSw&cad=rja

My dear friend Andy Lindsay introduced me to Stephen Williams the Director of The Antiques Wine Company (AWC) over a decade ago, and during that time the 3 of us have enjoyed some magic times together. None more so than when Stephen telephone and asked if I could collect a bottle of wine for him from the Caviar House on Piccadilly as I travelled north to visit Andy. He told me briefly about the bottle, but little did I know of the precious cargo that had been entrusted to my charge.

To visit the AWC:-

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.antique-wine.com%2F&rct=j&q=antiques%20wine%20company&ei=lsZKTZmQFIqg8QPuwomcDw&usg=AFQjCNGQc1-_caxGEfagrC1XzMjEK67Fdg&sig2=NhfKllTtTlpBu__MaxcQZg&cad=rja

Unbeknown to me then, Steve had bought the complete haul of Champagne salvaged from the barge and

the following day was flying to Las Vagas to court a prospective buyer - his obvious look of pleasure stemmed from the fact that he had the bottle which had to accompany him on that journey.

At $5,000 a bottle it was precious indeed, and although he used physical force to persuade us to take a glass we felt we had to refuse - Yeah, that would be right!

Stephen tells us he has encountered Harry Enfield, both in business and pleasure and finds him even funnier around a dinner table than on TV. Here is a snippet of his work you may not have previously seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI

Stats Update

	Num	Perc.	Country Name
	8023	76.41%	United Kingdom
	682	6.50%	United States
	220	2.10%	Estonia
	188	1.79%	Netherlands
	153	1.46%	Canada
	125	1.19%	Germany
	122	1.16%	France
	67	0.64%	Sweden
	65	0.62%	Italy
	63	0.60%	New Zealand
	53	0.50%	Japan
	51	0.49%	Australia
	51	0.49%	Spain
	35	0.33%	India
	33	0.31%	Denmark
	29	0.28%	Belgium
	29	0.28%	Brazil
	28	0.27%	Poland
	25	0.24%	Ireland
	25	0.24%	South Africa
	23	0.22%	Ukraine
	20	0.19%	Finland
	19	0.18%	Switzerland
	19	0.18%	Greece
	19	0.18%	Argentina
	16	0.15%	Czech Republic
	16	0.15%	Bulgaria
	16	0.15%	Taiwan
	14	0.13%	Vietnam
	13	0.12%	Hungary
	12	0.11%	Madagascar
	12	0.11%	Turkey
	12	0.11%	Dominican Republic
	12	0.11%	Norway
	12	0.11%	Russian Federation
	11	0.10%	Serbia
	9	0.09%	Pakistan
	9	0.09%	Malaysia
	8	0.08%	Romania
	8	0.08%	Peru
	8	0.08%	Ecuador
	8	0.08%	Portugal
	8	0.08%	Mexico
	7	0.07%	Venezuela
	7	0.07%	Austria
	6	0.06%	Sri Lanka
	6	0.06%	Korea, Republic Of
	6	0.06%	Singapore
	6	0.06%	Indonesia
	6	0.06%	Colombia
	5	0.05%	Chile
	5	0.05%	Saudi Arabia
	5	0.05%	Malta
	4	0.04%	Croatia
	4	0.04%	Israel
	4	0.04%	Slovenia
	3	0.03%	Thailand
	3	0.03%	Armenia
	3	0.03%	Egypt
	3	0.03%	Hong Kong
	3	0.03%	Bosnia And Herzegovina
	3	0.03%	Brunei Darussalam
	3	0.03%	Georgia
	2	0.02%	Philippines
	2	0.02%	Guadeloupe
	2	0.02%	Iran, Islamic Republic Of
	2	0.02%	Guatemala
	2	0.02%	Nepal
	2	0.02%	Jersey
	2	0.02%	Puerto Rico
	1	0.01%	Honduras
	1	0.01%	Namibia
	1	0.01%	Maldives
	1	0.01%	Panama
	1	0.01%	Guernsey
	1	0.01%	Isle Of Man
	1	0.01%	Cyprus
	1	0.01%	Albania
	1	0.01%	Iceland
	1	0.01%	Algeria
	1	0.01%	Moldova, Republic Of
	1	0.01%	Mongolia
	1	0.01%	Europe
	1	0.01%	Bangladesh
	1	0.01%	China
	1	0.01%	Lebanon
	1	0.01%	Trinidad And Tobago
	1	0.01%	United Arab Emirates
	1	0.01%	Morocco
	1	0.01%	Luxembourg
	1	0.01%	Yemen
	1	0.01%	Suriname
	1	0.01%	Anonymous Proxy