Underwater wine

Among the various methods of aging wines, there is a very particular one, which however is enjoying some success. It is the aging in the sea.
Pierluigi Lugano, owner of the Bisson winery, began to think about the creation of a Classic Method twenty years ago. First we needed a new space with constant temperature and humidity for aging on the lees of the wines. But as a man of the sea and passionate about history, memories of finds of ancient wrecks carrying bottles of wine, which the depths of the sea had kept intact for centuries, re-emerged in his mind. Thus was born the idea of not building a new cellar but of using the sea as a place of refinement. After some experiments started in 2009, from 2014 the bottles of the three labels of Spumante Abissi complete the aging period in the sea of the Baia del Silenzio in Sestri Levante. At a depth of about 60 meters the conditions are perfect: constant temperature of 15 degrees, penumbra, gentle currents that keep the yeasts in suspension, absolute absence of oxygen and risk of oxidation. The external pressure of 7 Bar creates a perfect balance with the internal pressure of the bottles. Today there are three labels from the Abissi sparkling wines line. "Abissi" Classic Sparkling Wine, produced with Genoese bianchetta, vermentino, cimixià and 18 months aging in the sea; the Spumante Abissi Riserva Pas Dosé, Genoese bianchetta, vermentino, cimixià and aging in the sea for 26 months, are two essential and dry classic methods, in which sensations of salt prevail, the notes of aromatic herbs and a mineral and brackish finish. Spumante Abissi Rosè is a Pas Dosé created with cherry and granaccia, which remains in the sea for 14 months. The result is a fresh Classic Method, with floral and citrus notes, hints of aromatic herbs, with a dry and salty sip.
In Ravenna, Tenuta del Paguro , with the collaboration of divers from the Paguro Association, undertook a project to refine wines in the sea at depths of 30 meters in 2010. The idea of the sea is linked to the ancient tradition that dates back to the time when Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman Empire. During the Bacchanals, "salsy" wines produced with grapes dried in the sun and then mixed with sea water were also served to mature them and avoid acetification. Starting from this ancient tradition, today the labels of the winery complete their journey with a period of aging on the wreck of the Paguro Oil Platform, which sunk on September 29, 1965 at 35 meters deep. The bottles rest for a period of 6-12 months in an environment protected from light at a temperature of 10-13 ° C and at the pressure of a few bars.

The Santa Maria La Palma Winery , in Alghero, produces the Charmat Akènta Sub Method Sparkling Wine in a limited number of bottles, a pure Vermentino left to mature for a few months at a depth of 40 meters.
In Croatia the Cantina Edivovina, located on the Pelješac peninsula, has started producing the Navis Mysterium label since 2011. It is a bottle contained in a terracotta amphora set to age for about 2 years on the seabed at a depth of 18-25 meters, in an old fishing boat sunk for over 30 years.
There are also examples in France. the Les Vins de Bandol Association refine 120 bottles of white, rosé and red in the Mediterranean Sea, at about 40 meters deep, to verify its evolution. From the tastings it seems that aging in the sea slows down the evolution of the wines, which need more time to mature. Even a famous Champagne name such as Veuve Clicquot for some years has started a refinement project of some matches of Cuvée in the North Sea, to monitor and verify the differences compared to the bottles stored in the caves of Reims. An illustrious Bordeaux name like Château Larrivet Haut-Brion is also experimenting with refinements at sea for its wines. A small 56-liter barrique from the 2009 vintage was placed in a closed concrete box with a chained lid and put into the sea in the Parc à huîtres d'Arcachon. The comparative tasting, with an identical barrique aged on dry land, confirmed for the first time a more salty and brackish profile. A new frontier is opening up, we will see with what developments in the coming years.