WINE SUBMERGED AT SEA, AGED BY WAVES A NEW RAGE IN JAPAN

An initiative to age bottles of wine on the ocean floor, aided by the vibrations of the waves, is underway in a bay in east Japan, Nobumichi Iwasaki reported for Mainichi Shimbun.

About 400 bottles of wine entrusted by hotels and other organizations were lowered into the calm sea by local fishermen in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture. After six months, the wine will be pulled out as "undersea aged wine."

Hiroshi Deguchi, 58, captain of a leisure fishing boat and a board member of the Koajiro tourism promotion and revitalization council, skillfully sank a case filled with bottles of wine at the point he had decided on ahead of time in Koajiro Bay.

The water is more than 10 meters deep with a sandy bottom that allows the tide to flow easily, and the water temperature is stable at 12 to 14 degrees Celsius even in winter.

Moreover, the ultraviolet rays that are said to cause deterioration of wine do not reach the bottles.

"It's best to sink young wine, because when I pull it out, I'll know for sure that it has become delicious," Deguchi said.

The cases of wine are covered with wire netting to protect the bottles, and a buoy tied with a rope is attached.

After the bottles are put in the water, the buoys are used as a landmark for regular patrols.

The tops of the bottles are coated with beeswax taken from beehives to prevent seawater from entering through the gaps in the cork stoppers. When the bottles are pulled up six months later, they are said to be covered with barnacles.

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