The turbulence of the sea, the salinity of the water, the darkness in which all the creatures of the ocean live affect the transformation process of grapes and wine. Thus, the depths of the ocean become an absolutely charming and unusual wine cellar. Behind Nesos wine is the research of wine and ocean, and has the same original intention, although different from the general application and method, but aims to be two equally excellent wine projects, different in every respect.
What these two experiments have in common is the two winemakers’ vision of the past, their return to storied traditions and their desire to create something unique and new. Nesos sea wine was born in the waters of Isola d’Elba in Tuscany, belonging to Antonio Arrighi, owner of Arrighi Vigne e Olive. The freshly picked grapes are immersed in the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea, where they remain for a few days before returning to dry land to begin winemaking. On the other hand, the sparkling wine under the ocean, Abissi, is a bottle of sparkling wine from Pierluigi Lugano’s Bisson winery with the classic method of production , sinking into the Bay of Silence in the Ligurian Sea in Sestri Levante.
Abissi, Pierughi Lugano’s Abyss sparkling wine
Pierucci Lugano is intrinsically linked to wine. He often played in the winery when he was only five years old. Previously a high school art, archeology and design history teacher, he founded his Bisson winery in Liguria in 1978. So his first career aroused his great curiosity, and his second career helped him realize this curiosity. In the business of wine, it gave life to Abissi, the first ever Italian sparkling wine aged under the sea.
Not only that, he was also a sommelier who won the Italian wine tasting championship, and he is still deepening his understanding of wine quality today. “I’ve always wondered when the so-called wine industry started to take shape, that is to say where the wine originated and how it was first judged good or bad,” says Lugano. This idea is explained in the Gospel of John in The Wedding at Cana, where after the miraculous conversion of water into wine, the host of the table indicated that it was a better glass of wine, so there was already a sense of quality at that time. int. Alternatively, Lugano was overwhelmed by the tradition of storing wine in ancient caves. In this regard, he explained: “They were the first wine cellars, because at that time, people had already begun to know how to find places that were protected from light and had a constant temperature. There is no wine in it anymore. But during the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci invented the first scuba devices, and the first Roman wrecks were discovered, including well-preserved wine jars. After opening the bottle, the wine inside The wine is still well preserved.”
The research in Lugano continues today and the winemakers decided to age the wines in the sea. “In my opinion, sparkling wine is best suited for immersion in water, as it is the most delicate and oxygen-sensitive form of wine. Immersing sparkling wine in the sea improves the quality of the sparkling wine both sensorially and visually, and imparts incredible refinement and elegance on the palate”.
Lugano started a series of decade-long experiments in the 90s to find out the most suitable temperature, depth pressure, and most suitable container to make excellent wine. That is today’s Haiyuan sparkling wine Abissi.
The earliest creation dates back to 2008. Lugano immerses sparkling wine in the waters of the Ligurian Sea, using sparkling wine produced by the classic method from the Bisson winery (also the first sparkling wine brand in Liguria), Made from three local Ligurian grape qualities: bianchetta genovese, vermentino and cimixia. There are also Rosé sparkling wines based on ciliegiolo and Granaccia.
Where Abissi sinks into the ocean is the Bay of Silence in Sitri Levante. After the second fermentation, the bottles are closed with simple beer caps and placed in gabions made of corrosion-resistant alloy steel that can hold 550 bottles. The sinking depth is between 45 and 60 meters, the constant temperature is 15 degrees, the existence of oxygen avoids the exchange of internal and external pressure and pressure loss, and prolongs the drinking time limit, with a pressure value of 7 bar. Then, shake the bottle through the stream of water. “The autolysis of the yeast occurs in the absence of oxygen and facilitates the aging process of the wine with faster precipitation of the sediment”. When salvaged again, each wine bottle will have more or less algae, sand, crustaceans, starfish, etc. This makes it even more magical and charming. Simply keep these and wrap them with a transparent film. This packaging has been patented to better ensure its ocean atmosphere.
These sparkling wines rest at sea for two to three years, and are currently trying products for up to ten years. The first batch of 6,500 bottles to enter the water has risen to 30,000 bottles today. Lugano clarified: “Attempts are being made to produce a special sparkling wine Pas Dosé with no residual sugar. It will be a sparkling wine that represents all the characteristics given by the mineral salts of the region. On the palate, one can feel the iodine, not because of being in contact with the ocean for a while, but because they grow in areas that are strongly influenced by the ocean.”
Nesos, Abyssal Wines by Antonio Arrighi
Antonio Arrighi, a Tuscan winemaker and owner of Elba Vineyards, whose roots date back to 1800, initiated an experiment in oenology at sea in 2018 idea. So in collaboration with Angela Zinnai and Francesca Venturi, with the help of Professor Attilio Scienza, professor of viticulture at the University of Milan, it was decided to trace The ancient wine, Chios wine, was produced on a small island in the eastern Aegean Sea. A sweet alcoholic wine transported by sea. This wine has a salty taste because the grapes were immersed in the sea in order to remove the frost on the skins, which accelerated the drying process in the sun and retained the aroma of the grapes. So, on the basis of this fascinating myth, Arrighi tried to bring this wine to light, and so he created Nesos, his personal abyssal wine.
“The grapes we dip into the sea are Ansonica, a local grape variety in Elba, and we usually harvest around mid-September. The Ansonica grapes are first dipped to a depth of 10 meters,” Aligui said. We place the grapes in pots wrapped in wicker baskets and secure the baskets at the bottom with rope to resist the pull of the ocean currents. Experiments over the years have tried several other grapes and established the correct depth, Depths of 7 to 10 meters have been tested so far, but in the future it may be tried at 50 to 100 meters in a completely dark environment. We have also used Aleatico grapes (Aleatico) soaked in water, this grape is in contact with sea water The salt formed is so weak that it lasts only seven hours.
On the contrary, the time of Sangiovese (Snagiovese) will be a little longer. Ansonica grapes however will be the focus of our attention as it lasts for five days. Immediately after plucking the grapes from the sea, the grapes are left to dry in the sun, during which time the grapes can recover the sugar lost during the maceration process. This mild drying takes about 3 days, but at night, the grapes are covered with a tarpaulin to protect the grapes from moisture. After this the grapes are destemmed by hand and placed in 25 liter earthenware jars, respecting the original dimensions of Chios wine jars, where the maceration continues until spring. Due to the osmosis that occurs with the seawater during maceration, the sea salt also penetrates the interior of the grapes, but does not damage the grapes. The salt thus formed has an antioxidant and sanitizing effect, so the use of sulfites for embalming is omitted, and it is finally aged in bottle for one year. This results in a very natural wine, very similar to Chios wine from 2,500 years ago.
This daunting experiment, which produced only 40 bottles in the first year, has now reached 100 bottles. Nesos takes its name from the ancient Greek word for “island,” but it’s clear that Nesos is now a special kind of wine. From the point of view of color, it has a high density, like raisin liqueur. There are aldehydes in the aroma, such as paint, enamel, almonds, etc., and the taste is even more peculiar. Very salty in the mouth, but after just a few seconds, the wine comes back, along with the smell of the sea.
