Almost 118 years ago, on February 23rd 1900, disaster struck Pol Roger’s cellars in Épernay, reports Decanter.
Following a period of extreme cold and damp, vast stretches of wall suddenly collapsed during the night, demolishing adjoining buildings and burying 1.5 million bottles of wine, along with 500 casks.
Damage was so extensive that the ground above the cellars caved in, causing the street level to fall by four metres. Great fissures formed in the nearby roads, rue Henri le Large and rue Godart-Roger.
An account from Le Vigneron Champenois tells how Pol Roger’s son Maurice awoke at 2am to ‘a dull rumble similar to the sound of thunder’.
"When the workers arrived a few hours later, the disaster was complete."
Pol Roger’s sons, Maurice and Georges, had hoped they could attempt to salvage the buried wines by tunnelling into the rubble.
But after a similar cave-in occurred a month later at the nearby property of Godart-Roger, the plans were abandoned, along with the ruined cellars.
Fast forward almost 118 years exactly and Pol Roger is now rebuilding a new packaging facility on the same plot of land.
On January 15th, a drilling session hit upon an underground chamber, which contained a cache of broken glass and an intact bottle of Champagne.
After further excavation, 19 more bottles were lifted unscathed from the wreckage.
‘The wines are clear, the levels are correct and the corks are depressed,’ said the Champagne house.