2023-08-26 14:02:35
In California, the company Ocean Fathoms has been selling wine aged in the seabed, reputed to be of better quality, for years. But the beautiful commercial promise ended when the authorities found that the company did not meet any standards, both legal and health.
Raising great wines in the Pacific Ocean to give them a marine flavor. The idea seemed beautiful but finally collided with reality. Since 2017, Ocean Fathoms – in reference to the Anglo-Saxon unit of measurement used for the depths of the sea, a fathom being the equivalent of a fathom, i.e. 1.828 meters – has prided itself on selling an exceptional wine: bottles placed in a submerged box for regarding a year off the coast of California, then sold for several hundred dollars.
Because, according to the founders of the company, the seabed offers “the perfect environment”, i.e. all the conditions necessary for the good aging of great wines, due to the cool temperature, the total darkness, the absence of oxygen and rocking waves at depth.
In addition, all kinds of small shells, such as barnacles, corals and other sea creatures stick to the bottles, giving them a particular aesthetic that also serves as a marketing argument.
An illegal activity
But authorities recently found that Ocean Fathoms violates virtually every applicable law. First, the company never received a business license and permit to sell alcohol, nor the proper permits from the authorities to store their wine offshore.
In addition, its founders would have lied or exaggerated in front of investors, and regarding funds donated to charities.
But above all, the health authorities (FDA) believe that, by immersing it in seawater, this wine might be contaminated and “unfit for human consumption. Consequently, 2000 bottles were seized and destroyed.
According to a statement from the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office, the destruction of the wine was part of a deal agreed to by the founders of Ocean Fathoms. The two men pleaded guilty to three counts and are required to pay $50,000 in compensation to an investor.
Scientific validity still unknown
One question remains: is wine aged under water really of better quality? The debate has interested producers, oenologists and scientists for several years, including in Switzerland. According to some, the technique gives various and varied qualities to the beverages. They would be finer, with accelerated maturation, and the tannin of young wines would be erased without affecting the aroma.
>> Read regarding this: Vaudois wine immersed at the bottom of Lake Geneva for ideal preservation
But among the most pragmatic, it is rather an excellent marketing move to sell at a higher price.
A unique experience mobilizing several laboratories was launched in October 2021 in Colmar, France, to test the hypothesis. Some 300 bottles of crémant were submerged 25 meters deep and the first results might be known by the end of the year.
One thing is certain, the buzz remains a formidable promotional tool: despite its ban on exercising, Ocean Fathoms has never received so many orders. So that in a recent interviewone of the founders still hoped to make a comeback, with the proper permits.
Radio Subject: Katja Schaer
Adaptation web: Pierrik Jordan
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