Remeber that back when this stuff was made, even the drinking water probably had a "hint of manure" in it. Just washing the bottles before filling might account for this elegant flavor.
Another bit in the article jumped out at me: [And what about the beer? The divers, for their part, say they're more interested in the beer than the champagne, as wreck discover Christian Ekstroem comments:
"I don't care so much about the champagne. Champagne we can only sell or drink up, but ... we can use the beer to produce something unique and local. It's historically meaningful."
Ekstroem says the beer is just as phenomenally well-preserved as the wine. When one of the bottles cracked open on board their ship, the divers saw the liquid froth up just like a new beer would, indicating the yeast was somehow still alive.]
So I wonder what they plan to do with the beer that can't be done with the wine? I also found it interesting that they state that the yeast must be alive since the beer still had a head of foam. Sounds like a real expertly written piece.