Unlimited free temperature controlled space is a compelling reason for aging wine underwater. Let’s take a look and see if wine has a future underwater.

I first heard of aging wine underwater in 2008 when my boss went to a Spanish wine tasting in San Francisco. During the tasting he sent me pictures of bottles with descriptions like “WTF” and “holy shit.”

(All very technical wine terms.)

He brought back a wine that had been aged underwater called Sketch by Spanish winemaker Raul Perez.

Raul is a bit of an odd guy, he’s known for finding and using the grapes from very old vineyard plots all over Northwestern Spain. Sketch hails from Rias Baixas (pronounced Ree-yus BYE-shus) and is made from a white wine grape called Albariño.

The vineyard is located in Dena, Spain, just 500 feet from the Atlantic ocean. After making the wine, it’s put in bottles and sent to the bottom of the sea in the nearby bay. The wine sits from 60 days or more until someone on a boat with a scuba suit goes to retrieve it.

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An anaerobic pressurized environment such as the bottom of the ocean acts more as a time capsule. The sea maintains temperature and the currents gently rock the bottles. After we tasted Sketch it was clear that the act of aging it underwater didn’t really matter to the wine itself. It had merit on its own, it was delicious.

Knowing that the wine was once in the ocean did change the way we perceived it. As we tasted it, we imagined the people on the boat going to extricate their underwater wine treasure trove. The wine’s natural salinity evoked the idea of the sea and I find myself longing to be there. An idea pops into my head: is there a U-Pick wine-of-the-sea? I would pay good money to go diving for a bottle.

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Ever since finding out about Sketch in 2008 we’ve discovered a few other people aging wine underwater. As far as we can tell, white and sparkling wine are the only styles of wine that get dunked. There have been tests in large lakes and rivers (that don’t freeze) as well. If you find out about one not listed below, put a note in the comments.

Why Cellar Wine Underwater?

There have been reports of wineries aging wine underwater in Italy, France and Spain. The benefits of aging wine underwater are clear.

Median temperatures at the bottom of the ocean in these regions maintain 50-55° F.

Median temperatures at the bottom of the ocean in these regions maintain 50-55° F. Ideal low light environment

Ideal low light environment Oxygen contamination is not an issue

Oxygen contamination is not an issue Temperature control and storage area is free.

Temperature control and storage area is free. High pressure maintains sparkling wines

High pressure maintains sparkling wines Oak aged wines get increased sodium carbonate increasing flavor complexity

Besides all the good reasons a scuba-loving winemaker may find, there are a wealth of problems with aging wine underwater. Be very afraid of wine-loving mollusks, pirates and saltwater contamination. Plus, every bottle incurs the cost of schlucking it in and out of the ocean.

This video was provided by Aglaia Vanzetto at Drafinsub. Drafinsub is a company that specializes in industrial underwater projects with complete video/photography support.