Around 2,000 bottles have been recovered from the Pacific. coast of California to accelerate its aging and improve its taste.
Emanuele Azzaretto and his partner Todd Hahn began placing metal cages filled with bottles of wine on the ocean floor about a mile from Santa Claus around 2017. The coast of Barbara.
Mr. Azzaretto was reportedly inspired by the discovery in 2010 of a shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, from which divers recovered more than 150 bottles of 170-year-old champagne.
Champagne almost ideal conditions were maintained due to the depth and pressure it was in.
Mr. Azzaretto, a trained diver, came up with the idea of replicating the same conditions by leaving bottles of wine at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
He believed that this technology, which has been put into practice in many other parts of the world, including Italy and France, will allow the wine to age in an interesting way, which will make it attractive to connoisseurs, collectors and restaurateurs.
' Under water for a year.”
The wine lay on the seabed for about a year before it was pulled out and sold for up to $500 a bottle.
But the businessmen who founded Ocean Fathoms broke a number of laws and have been convicted of a range of crimes, from damaging the marine environment to defrauding investors.
They were unable to secure permits from bodies such as the California Coastal Commission and the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Prosecutors said leaving the boxes underwater for a year was enough to develop the marine ecosystem. , but that it was destroyed after the boxes were retrieved from the sea.
Santa Barbara County Attorney's Office reached a plea agreement with Mr. Azzaretto and Mr. Khan regarding their «illegal underwater exposure and wine sales.
The partners pleaded guilty to three offenses: illegally dumping materials into US waters, aiding and abetting fraud with investors, and selling alcohol without a license.
Approximately 2,000 bottles of wine and other alcohol were confiscated and destroyed. The wine was disposed of at a wastewater treatment plant and the glass bottles were recycled.
John Savrnoh, Santa Barbara County District Attorney, said: «The defendants acted in total disregard for laws designed to protect our coast from harm.» violation of state or federal law.
«This case…demonstrates our commitment to holding companies and individuals accountable for violating all types of consumer and environmental laws.»
He said the wine was being sold without any of the proper labeling required by federal law. And the company was selling wine without permission to sell alcohol.
The firm collected sales taxes but did not pay those California taxes.
A prosecutors statement said: “Finally, the company announced that it was donating a portion of its profits to a local environmental non-profit organization, however, there was no evidence that when — any donations have been made.
The partners have been ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution to one of their investors.
Aging wine underwater is a relatively recent trend to improve the complexity and taste of wine.
This technique — or trick — has been used off the coast of Italy, France, Spain and Croatia. An Austrian winemaker sank vats of wine into the bottom of Lake Constance.
But some experts are skeptical of this method. The same cool and dark conditions are said to be found in a traditional basement.
They also indicate the cost and effort required to cage the bottles, transport them to the sea, dump them on the sea floor and then recover them for sale.
Свежие комментарии