New evolution for wines aged in the sea: underwater, both grapes and bottles in Liguria

Both the immersion of grapes in the sea and underwater aging in glass: for the first time in the history of international winemaking, two different practices of underwater winemaking and refinement have been combined into a single process. This is the result of a collaboration between Antonio Arrighi, pioneer of the Nesos Method on Elba Island, and Heidy Bonanini, head of the Possa winery in Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre, La Spezia. Together, they have launched “Extreme UnderWaterWines”, a project conceived and promoted by Jamin UnderWaterWines, the first Italian company to invest in underwater wines (and the first in the world to have obtained a patent for it).
This is truly a “niche within a niche”: wines aged in the sea (which WineNews has reported on several times through case studies across Italy and beyond) blend science and marketing. While it has been demonstrated that the seabed offers an ideal environment for aging thanks to constant temperatures and absence of light, this trend also has strong appeal in the luxury sector. And now, it continues to evolve.
Just a few days ago, on September 19th - in the waters of the Cinque Terre National Park and Marine Protected Area - Bosco grapes from the Possa winery were immersed for 72 hours: for the first time, two underwater winemaking techniques, previously applied separately, were combined. Namely, the immersion of fresh grapes in the sea, following the methodology and coordination already tested by Antonio Arrighi, and underwater bottle aging using the Jamin Method, with engineered capsules and systems that allow the wine to be stored at over 50 meters deep for about 180 days, resulting in a new characterization. The result will allow to analyze - through collaboration with university departments of Winemaking, Biology, and Environmental Sciences, partners of Jamin - three types of wine obtained from the same row of vines and the same harvest: one traditionally vinified, one traditionally vinified but aged underwater in glass (Jamin Method), and one vinified with grapes immersed in the sea and then aged underwater in glass (thus combining both the Arrighi Nesos Method and the Jamin Method).
“We are now the reference point for producers who want us as partners for a scientific and innovative approach - underlined Emanuele Kottakhs, Founder & Servant of Jamin UnderWaterWines - all of this certainly benefits winemaking, but it has already opened an important new frontier in environmental sustainability and in respecting and promoting the territory in which we operate”. Further innovation also comes from Elban winemaker Antonio Arrighi: “after the journey with the Nesos project, the result of professor Attilio Scienza’s meticulous research on the wine of the Gods from the Island of Chios, which was put into practice in 2018 under his supervision - he recalled - this experiment marks another step forward in understanding how the sea can truly change the destiny of winemaking. Every immersion is a lesson, every analysis a discovery”. Finally, according to Heidy Bonanini, head of Possa, “enhancing the Bosco grape and the heroic viticulture of the Cinque Terre through a project that looks to the future while rooted in tradition is an extraordinary opportunity for our territory, and we are proud of this achievement”.