Thanks to the "Havets Bobler" project, 1,700 wax-sealed bottles of Rathfinny's Classic Cuvée 2018 have just resurfaced, aged 30 meters below the ocean's surface for 6 months. The result? Norway's top sommelier reveals the results.
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The project, called "Havets Bobler," literally meaning "bubbles from the sea," had been in development for more than a year. It involved 1,700 wax-sealed bottles of Rathfinny's Classic Cuvée 2018 submerged 30 meters below the ocean surface at 66° north, slightly less than the latitude of the Arctic Circle, for six months. It was estimated that the constant coolness, around 5° C, pressure, and relative lack of light at that depth could have created the ideal conditions for the English bubbles to mature in bottle.
But the proof of the fact is all in the tasting: on May 12, a bottle-picking ceremony was held in Sandnessjøen, where Nikolai Haram Svorte, winner of this year's Best Norwegian Sommelier award, had the honor of opening a bottle with a saber and tasting the deep-sea drink. He described it as "the beginning of something really exciting. After only six months in Arctic waters, this method ensured that the wine remained remarkably vibrant and in excellent condition, gently slowing its organoleptic evolution."
"I would have expected a rounder mouthfeel and softer bubbles," he adds, "but, to my surprise, the wine retained more freshness than I expected. From the citrus notes to the savory, mineral finish, almost reminiscent of oyster flavor, this tasting was a bit of a revelation for me: the ocean proves to be a unique environment for storing and aging sparkling wine." Mark Driver, co-founder of Rathfinny Estate with his wife Sarah since 2010, said, "We are excited about the project and believe that aging wine in such a cool, dark environment has many advantages. The process seems to slow down its development slightly, keeping it fresh and generating fruity sensations. It will be interesting to try aging it longer than six months, and this is the plan for the next batch of wine that will be placed on the seabed during the summer."
"I was also impressed that our Sussex sparkling wines are produced within three miles of the iconic Seven Sisters cliffs, which mark the beginning of the South Downs, and that aging takes place only three miles from the Seven Sisters mountains near Sandnessjøen, Norway. It's a great partnership with Hurtigruten to develop Havets Bobler," he added. These unique wines will be served aboard Hurtigruten ships as part of the company's 130th anniversary celebrations. Although the Norwegian experiment is unique in the world, it must be said that many of the most expensive bottles of champagne ever sold have been pulled from the seabed. There are even plans to recover rare whiskey worth $20 million from a 170-year-old shipwreck at the bottom of Lake Michigan. The Scandinavian thirst for English sparkling wine is well documented, with Norway as a key market.
Source: thedrinkbusiness.com
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