Undersea Wine - Where and How it all began

Undersea Wine - Where and How it all began

Undersea Wine - Where and How it all began:



The story of underwater wine cellars and bottles of wine matured on the seabed began more than two decades ago, in the late 90s, thanks to an Italian artist turned sommelier. Pierluigi Lugano opened his wine cellar in 1978. Initially the owner of the Bisson wine and art store, Lugano was forced by the lack of space to look for an alternative method of storing his wines. After the classic odyssey for obtaining agreements from the authorities, specified, it seems, to all latin peoples, it received the green light to sink, in 2001, the first batch of sparkling wines obtained, by the classical method, from indigenous varieties grown in vineyards overlooking Golfo Paradiso on the Mediterranean Sea. When the wines of the sommelier-artist reached the bottom of the sea, off the coast of Portofino, in the Liguria region, he did not suspect that, after a few decades, his idea would be taken over by dozens of wineries, from all over the world.

From a wreck, to "Cellar in the Sea -

Then hazard also played a role in promoting the idea of a wine cellar under water: in 2010, the discovery of a ship that sank in 1880 off the Aland Archipelago in the Baltic Sea, between Sweden and Finland – about whichWines Of Romania recently wrote -, and the finding on board the wreck of 168 bottles of champagne encouraged the appearance of more underwater wineries in Europe. After a series of research projects, in 2014 was born the project called "Cellar in the Sea" – "Cellar in the Sea". Over the next four decades, this project aims to become an essential source of discoveries and experiences in the field of underwater wine cellars. 

Specialists give the verdict -

The wine experts consulted studied the centenary champagnes recovered from the seabed and concluded that the storage of the bottles on the seabed ensures the optimal conditions for the process of aging of the wine. The constant temperature, semi-darkness, immobility and pressure generated by underwater currents are just some of the arguments of an ideal environment for underwater storage of wines. 

Research has led to discoveries or inventions in this new field. For example, Bisson created and patented a special stopper with a layer of steel, resistant to the aggressiveness of salt erosion. 

Mediterranean, the spiritual capital of innovators -

In less than two decades, underwater wineries were founded in Italy, France, Spain, Greece, the United States of America, Chile, South Africa and Australia. Three years ago, the first Underwater Wine Congress was attended by no less than 31 underwater wine cellars from around the world. 

The Mediterranean can be considered a spiritual capital for these innovators, due to the presence of wineries of this kind in Sardinia – Alghero –, Liguria – Portofino and Sestri Levante – on the Adriatic Sea, in Ravenna and Croatia. 

Edivo Vina

Drace is a small village in Croatia, located on the Peljesac peninsula, with many vineyards and excellent varieties of wine. There is Edivo Vina, the wine cellar inaugurated in 2011. Bottles and amphorae are stored on the seabed, from the end of 2013 and early 2014, around the Peljesac peninsula. 

Each 0.75 liter bottle is sealed in a clay amphora protected with a special stopper and two layers of rubber. Amphorae are submerged in the sea, at a depth of 18-25 meters, where they remain over 700 days. This is the process that results in the appearance of Navis Mysterium, a unique wine in Croatia. It is a boutique wine, in limited edition, made from plavac mali native grapes. Lovers of adventure, wine and the sea are offered the unique experience of visiting one of the underwater cellars. A limited number of Navis Mysterium bottles and amphorae are kept in a sunken boat near Žuljana. There are organized, on request, supervised dives in which tourists can enjoy spectacular underwater landscapes and visit the underwater wine cellar..