Wine bottle

wine

The Dutch East Company (VOC), ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope and headed north along the African coast, through the Strait of Madagascar to reach the Indies. The Dutch ships carried different types of merchandise, like textiles, wine, beer, lead, red dyes (vermillion, cochineal), and mercury.

In the list of the VOC victuals, they mention French, Spanish and Cape wines. Winemakers have been using colored wine bottles since the early 1700s. The most common wine bottle colors are dark green and amber. Other variations include blue, deep brown and frosted. Traditionally, colored wine bottles have been used to limit exposure to light. Sunlight, and even incandescent light, can cause wine to break down, affecting color, aroma and taste – eventually leading to oxidation.

The Onion-shaped wine bottles are typical of the early 18th century and are sealed with cork and wax that holds the cork in place. The bottles that survived spent most of their time under the water, which left their mark in the shape of the mother of pearl that covers the old bottle”.

’t Vliegent hart (Flying Heart)

The most well-known story about wine bottles is that of the ship called ’t Vliegent hart (Flying Heart). The vessel was an 18th-century East Indiaman of the Dutch East India Company.

On the third of February 1735, the ship ’t Vliegent hart, commanded by Captain Cornelis van der Horst, and the vessel Anna Catherina left the Roads of Rammekens. During the spring tide, the two ships, accompanied by the pilot boat Mercurius, sailed in the direction of the Isle of Wight. From there, they would sail to the Cape of Good Hope. There was a strong north-eastern wind.

Three hours after they left the harbor, the ships hit a sandbank. The Anna Catherina and it’s crew of 175 people went aground. Within two hours, the ship was wrecked by the storm and the waves. ’t Vliegent Hart broke adrift and cast anchor on the Schooneveld, near Zeeland. The crew did everything they could, but all were hopelessly lost. The ship and its crew of 256 tragically drowned.

Due to the storm and high waves, the pilot boat Mercurius couldn’t help and returned to the Roads of Rammekens. Two months later, the Chamber of Zeeland asked famous cartographer Abraham Anias to chart the position of the wrecks. In 1735 and 1736 they were in touch with many salvage operators who tried to salvage the cargo.

Shortly afterward, various materials washed up on the beaches of Blankenberge and Nieuwpoort, primarily barrels containing liquids such as gin, beer, and oil. In the months following the disaster, James Bushell, a diver from Harwich, undertook salvage attempts on the wrecks on behalf of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), but without much success.

A second diving campaign in 1736 by William Evans was successful. Again from a diving barrel, he was able to salvage a considerable amount of material (including a cannon, copper, lead, ship's equipment, linen, bottles of wine, and coins). After that, the wreck of 't Vliegent Hart disappeared from attention for a long time.

At the end of the last century, the wreck of 't Vliegent Hart received renewed attention. While studying maps used by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1977, cartographer-historian Günter Schilder (Utrecht University) discovered an important archive containing information about the wreck's location. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, a scientific institution specializing in VOC relics, was involved in the discovery. Rex Cowan, a former British lawyer with many years of experience salvaging wrecks, was proposed to the Dutch State Property Service for a contract. He received the rights to the wreck site in exchange for transferring 25 percent of the 'proceeds' to the state (75/25 split). This would later be adjusted to a 90/10 ratio, which, together with the issuing of a salvage contract on a valuable heritage site, led to considerable controversy.

It was not until 1981 that the wreck site would be rediscovered. Artifacts, including wine bottles, bullets, and an intact coffer with 2000 gold ducats and 5000 silver reales, were retrieved.

The wines of ’t Vliegent Hart

It’s remarkable how many different bottles of wine have been found when salvaging ’t Vliegent Hart. In the list of the victuals, they mention French, Spanish and Cape wines.

The Cape wines were only taken on board when passing the Cape of Good Hope. For this purpose, they planted enormous quantities of vines in the Cape Colony. According to the data still available, there were 5.265.000 vines in the Cape in 1768. The VOC even had its own wine cellars in Southern Africa. The founder of the Cape Colony, Jan van Riebeeck, is still considered, together with Simon van der Stel, to be the father of viniculture in South Africa.

The chambers of Amsterdam and Zeeland had their own bottling rooms. So it’s credible that the bottles found on the wreck had been bottled by the Chamber of Zeeland in Middelburg.

Cash books of the VOC show us that the French wines were often from Bergerac, Bordeaux and the Loire. The Spanish wines or ‘secq' wines came from the sherry area and the islands in the Atlantic Ocean. ‘Secq’ does not mean ‘dry’. It’s probably derived from ‘sack’, which in its turn would be derived from ‘sacar’, meaning ‘to export’. Furthermore, many wines came from Germany (Rhine wines).

The bottles found in ’t Vliegent Hart resemble the form of a carafe, which is characteristic of the beginning of the 18th century. The modern form of corked wine bottles was only invented at the end of the 17th century. The wine bottles on board were probably made in Middelburg, the first Dutch town where bottle factories were founded.

A bottle from het Vliegentd Hert for sale.

We have a wine bottle from the vessel 't Vliegend Hert for sale. The empty onion-shaped wine bottle is made of green glass and is sealed with cork and wax, which holds the cork in place. This bottle was captured from 't Vliegend Hert and comes with a copy of the original letter written by Rex Cowan to the previous owner, who declares that he gave the bottle to the last owner in 1984.

$1500 / € 1200

A bottle filled with wine.

We have a few mid-18th-century wine bottles that are still closed and full of red wine. The Onion-shaped wine bottles are made of green glass and are sealed with cork and wax, which holds the cork in place. Dutch East India Company, Netherlands, ca. 1735-1750.

The many years the bottles spent underwater have left their mark in the shape of the mother-of-pearl covering the old “onion bottle”. It cannot be determined with any certainty which wine or type of wine is inside the bottle.

The provenance is uncertain; Often, this type of bottle is offered and linked to the VOC vessel "'t Vliegend Hert". We don't know to which ship these belonged. This type of early wine bottle, still filled with its original wine, is a rare find!

$2500 / € 2250

Might it still be drinkable?
In theory, deep water offers perfect conditions for aging wine: cool, dark, and anaerobic. The temperature of ocean water decreases as depth increases, so one can assume that sea-aged bottles have been living at cold temperatures since the 1750s.

North Sea coastal waters are generally very pure (hence lots of seafood), with low salinity.
The high pressure of deep water forces corks to retain a tight seal — the water pressure counteracts the pressure inside the bottle. But with still wines, the pressure can force corks into the bottle.
The most damaged bottles, where the corks have leaked and let in seawater, do not have the tremendous appeal that the full bottles have.

Of course, the wine in these bottles is no longer drinkable, but you must admit: it would make your collection more exclusive.