Not sure how this would work if the temp was near a constant 55’ as the article states…Also, wouldn’t the pressure difference be negated by the wine bottle itself?
Look up Bisson Abissi, they did it first.
A rum I buy in the Cayman Islands is aged this way.
I don’t understand this. If you want to speed up the aging process, just stick it on a cross-country common carrier truck in the middle of the summer. (worked for Madeira!)
Stupid. They’re creating a mechanism to age wine longer, not shorter. Stupid.
Gimmick, nothing more.
A few years back…the worlds oldest champagne was found on a deep dive to a shipwreck…bottles were from I think mid 1800’s…and still in nice drinking condition
Ian I think Raul Perez beat him by a year. May be wrong though.
Anyhow, quite the trend:
Pretty wine. If it’s a gimmick there, I don’t mind it. Cool bottles, too.
I’ve had a couple bottles of the 2012 Julie Benau Picpoul ‘Libero’. But that was in barrel under the ocean. Actually a really good wine. Bit heavier than most picpoul, but nice.
I watched the video. When day sailing we frequently anchor near the place they were diving. Maybe I should have poked around a bit. It was on local news when they deposited the wine; I didn’t find it newsworthy.
Saline notes, a hint of seashell … ?
Apparently the agitation from the waves of the water takes away the need to riddle the bottles (since it keeps the contents moving), plus the counter balance of pressure apparently has some effect (not sure if that’s voodoo or not, only reporting what I’ve read). Obviously the water temp is great for it too.
The riddling thing could be real - though these were Cabernet bottles. Counterbalance of pressure is a non-factor. The cork is stationary, and as long as it withstands internal and external pressures, there is no effect. I could possibly see an argument for there being no external air as an oxygen source, but doesn’t that go against the conventional wisdom that a small amount of air is needed for wine to develop in the bottle (mind you, not my thinking, but probably most people and winemakers believe this).
Bottom line is that it’s a marketing stunt designed to draw attention to a brand, nothing more.
I missed that that Cali guy was doing it with Cabernet. I figured he was doing it with sparkling wine like the others!
Chas harbor water temperature gets quite warm in the summer, even at the bottom I think (low to mid 80s at the surface).
I didn’t follow the article, I figured someone was aging sparkling wine like every one else. Check this out.
http://www.bissonvini.it/ (Click the part about the Sparkling wine)
Found it if anybody cares
Had one a month ago.
Good solid sparkler, but nothing special, not better than a good Cava or budget price Champagne … so worth 15-20 €.
I wonder how it would have tasted without this “below-sea-aging” - I guess not much different.