Discovering Under Sea Wines: a dive into submerged wines

The "spark" for storing wine underwater was probably ignited by the discovery of a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea; the product, after 170 long years, was still drinkable and had preserved many of its original characteristics.

Among the Champagnes found was also a production by Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, which decided to "sink" its sparkling wines once again, this time deliberately, to create an exclusive product aged in an unusual way (and obviously sell it at a premium price). The project was called "A cellar in the sea", a cellar in the sea, set up precisely where the shipwreck was found, in which classic bottles and magnums of Vintage Rosé 2004 and Demi Sec were stored.

Chateau Larrivet Haut-Brion also decided to do the same thing, submerging one of the most important wines of Bordeaux! Bruno Lemoine, together with his friends Joel Dupuch, an oyster farmer, and cooper Pierre-Guillaume Chiberry, combined wine, sea, and barrels to bring this project to life! For a proper comparison, an identical barrel was left at the Château to observe the differences. The wine extracted from the Gulf of Arcachon was named Neptune and Michel Rolland, a world-renowned taster, proclaimed its triumph, judging it to be considerably more complex at an aromatic level! Just a marketing operation? Who knows – after the hyper-expert testimonials for Lidl French wines, you could expect anything!

In Spain, meanwhile, in Plentzia, precisely along the Basque Country coast, there is a laboratory called Lseb (Laboradorio submarino envejecimiento bebidas) that studies exactly the aging of wine beneath the waves!

In Italy, the Tenuta del Paguro di Brisighella ages Merlot, Albana, Cabernet, and Sangiovese in an oil platform wreck off the coast of Ravenna; heading further north, the red wine of Ornella Molon Traverso is refined in barriques for six months in the Laguna di Caorle; even more fitting is the Vermentino sardo aged in the Capo Caccia Marine Protected Area, near Alghero. There is also someone who decides to stand out from the crowd and age their product in fresh water, in Lago di Iseo – we are talking about Alessandro Belingheri.

But do you know where the leader of the "Under Sea Wines" is produced? In Italy! Specifically in Liguria by Bisson, which, in the Chiavari area, produces the sparkling wine Abissi – which we have already covered in an article dedicated to imaginative ways of producing and preserving wine – left to age in the waters near Portofino.

The advantages of underwater storage are said to be the absence of light, a cool and constant temperature, and high pressure that apparently facilitates the development of a particularly fine perlage; but what about "breathing" and air exchange?

Good or not good, technique or no technique, one thing is certain: imagination is in no short supply, and often initiatives arise by chance – the undeniable beneficiary being marketing.