Champagne the wine was bottled before the initial fermentation had finished. Champagne did not use the "" until the 19th century, about 200 years after Merret documented the process. The 19th century saw an exponential growth in Champagne production, going from a regional production of 300,000 bottles a year in 1800 to 20 million bottles in 1850. In 2007, Champagne sales hit an all-time record of 338.7 million bottles. In the 19th century Champagne was noticeably sweeter than the Champagnes of today. The trend towards drier Champagne began when Perrier-Jouët decided not to sweeten his 1846 vintage before exporting it to
Speyer wine bottle thick olive oil, added to the bottle to seal the wine off from air, along with a hot wax seal. Petronius (c. 2766 AD), in his work, "Satyricon", writes of plaster sealed bottles, and this one is analogous. The use of glass in the bottle is unusual, however, as typically Roman glass was too fragile to be dependable over time. While scientists have considered accessing the liquid to further analyze the content, as of 2018 the bottle remained unopened, because of concerns about how the liquid would react when exposed to air. The museum's curator, Ludger Tekampe, has stated he