International
The sea, the new wine cellar?
Aging wine under the sea is an increasingly popular technique. But is the result really any different from that obtained in a conventional cellar?
Ludovic Le Gall hides a treasure in Morlaix Bay, at a depth of 12 meters. Since 2007, this former professional diver has been applying his experience to a new technique for aging wine at sea. "At the time, I was working on an explosives site in Saint-Nazaire, and a colleague gave me a bottle he'd submerged near Vannes. He'd done it by hand, but when I saw that bottle, I immediately said to myself, 'That's what I want to do!
The son of a wine merchant, he soon decided to give it a try and set up his own company, Vin d'O. First, he teamed up with a winery, which made a selection of wines for him to age. After protecting the corks with wax to make them watertight, he "put half the bottles in a crate under the sea and the other half aged classically, in a cellar on land", says Ludovic Le Gall, who was able to compare the different vintages from 14 to 24 months after immersion. "The maturity of the wine was very different. The submerged bottles had more open tannins. The wine was fresher. The attack was less frank than that of the wines aged on land, but the taste was longer on the palate", assures the Vin d'O manager.
A technique that benefits the marine ecosystem
Since that first conclusive experience, Ludovic Le Gall has never looked back. It has to be said that the sea provides the ideal conditions for wine aging: low light levels, a stable temperature and good atmospheric pressure. More surprisingly, this underwater cellar would be good for the local ecosystem, serving as an artificial habitat for numerous species. "Lobsters, conger eels, shrimps, crabs... they all get into the crates! When they come out, the bottles are studded with little shells, it's really beautiful", enthuses the manager, who nonetheless measures his words. "I'm located on the edge of a Natura 2000 Park. You have to be very careful, because while the crates are good for the fauna, you mustn't rip up the seabed and destroy the flora", he warns.
Today, Ludovic Le Gall chooses the bottles he will immerse himself, based on word-of-mouth and encounters. "Often, my selection is made at a trade show or event where I'll come across a winemaker and taste their wine. At the moment, I work a lot with Cheverny or Médoc."
Of course, this unusual technique is not confined to Brittany. The phenomenon of ageing wine underwater has taken off in recent years all over France, but also in Spain. Gordon Ramsay's 1890 restaurant in London even has its own cage of wines from different producers, immersed on the Ecoalga site in Sines, Portugal. Veuve Clicquot has also sent samples for analysis to the oenology universities of Reims and Bordeaux. Meanwhile, Mauro Colagreco's Ceto restaurant in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin offers several wines and whisky aged at sea.
To find out more about Ludovic Le Gall's Vin d'O, you can visit his website directly, or visit one of his sales outlets in Erquy, Brest, Auray, Nice or Paris.
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