ROLLING** IN THE DEEP* – OR NOT, VAT*** IS THE QUESTION 

Colin Harkness

Well, it’s a little tenuous I admit, but I wanted to place Adele and Shakespeare in the same sentence whilst simultaneously having a link, no matter how obscure, to this month’s Wine Matters column. 

So, how does it work, you may be asking? Well, I’m writing here about the concept, quite new, but old enough now to be established, of Sea Aged Cava. It’s a thing, but it’s also a website and I’m sure that by the end of this article you’ll be reaching for the computer to visit www.seaagedcava.com  

Quite a few years ago now, 2010 in fact, some divers discovered a stash of Champagne in a shipwreck under the Baltic Sea* (first link!). I don’t recall the details now and anyway it doesn’t really matter as we’ve moved on so much since then. But the wine world was astounded to find that the Champagne in question was 170 years old and moreover, those bottles that hadn’t been damaged, either during the sinking or subsequently on the ocean bed, were home to some drinkable sparkling wine! 

Why, was the question posed. Over the intervening years there has been much research completed which has led to the following conclusion. Ageing in sea water will not only maintain the wine’s quality but will actually improve it! Remarkable, don’t you agree? 

The reasoning, after a lot of study and experiments, is as follows: 1. Under the water there is a constant beneficial temperature; 2. It’s dark down there, another advantage; 3. There is also a gentle rolling** motion which, rather like rocking the baby, is also appreciated. The wine industry took note and over a short time there were cages, crates and vats*** being deposited on the seabed off various countries’ coastlines – in secret of course, for obvious reasons! 

I’ve been lucky enough to taste several such wines and it is true to say that the wines that have undergone this sea aging process are definitely good. However, until recently, it hasn’t been so easy to taste the same wine that hasn’t been thus processed against one that has. Enter Mr. Graham Smith, like ourselves an expat (from Britain) now living in Spain, who has given it some thought and come up with a working alternative. 

But why is an alternative necessary, you may again ask, when it has been proven that it works already. Well, there are a number of problems with the theory, let alone the cost of such wines (one I tasted, for example, beautifully presented in a small barnacle encrusted 75 cl amphora, cost 150€!). 

Firstly, let’s look at the temperature claim. Many readers will have enjoyed swimming in the Med, nothing like it is there? However, you’ll also know that there are often changes in temperature – sometimes a body of colder or warmer water envelopes us as the same currents responsible for the gentle rocking motion far below move slowly by. So, it’s thought that there isn’t, even at a greater depth, a constant temperature. 

It’s dark, well that’s true for sure and there is still the gentle rolling. However, there are, of course, impurities floating in our seas (I won’t be specific!), bacteria which are unlikely to get into the bottles. But, is ‘unlikely’ enough? 

Well, our mad inventor, Graham, and by the way this is how he introduced himself to me, had a lot to ponder. He researched, experimented, asked for permissions, consulted a patent attorney (that was easy – he can file his own!) and so on. Eventually Graham came up with a system, which eradicated all of the above potential problems, yet still produced improved cava and wine. As Max Boyce might have said – I know, ‘cos I’ve tasted it! 

You see, Graham Smith has patented a system which allows for all the benefits of sea ageing wine – but on dry land! Yes, simple – but isn’t that the nature of all inventions? How does it work? Well, with permission from the local Mayor to take some of the Mediterranean; harmlessly purify it; place the sea water in large, sealed windowless tanks in a dark warehouse somewhere(!); and turn on the gentle pump simulating the movement felt under the sea; as well as ensuring that the temperature does, in fact, remain constant, Graham had the answer. All he needs to do is place the wine inside and in just a matter of bout two months the wine will have improved to the required standard, (another advantage here as it halves the time needed). 

And that’s not all. Graham argues that this system is ecological and environmentally far better than placing huge crates on the seabed, home to all manner of life! So, everyone’s a winner – including the consumer. 

Grahan is currently working with a large Spanish supermarket a deal hasn’t yet been reached (at the time of writing) but I’ve been able to taste one against the other, a sea aged cava, using Graham’s system versus the same cava bought from the shelves of said supermarket. My friends – it works, without question! 

We tried Brut versions of white cava and rosado. Each had an improved presence, a greater depth and mouthfeel, more intense fruit (green apples for the white; soft red fruits for the rosé), a touch more complexity and a longer finish! I’m greatly looking forward to a sample of a famous Spanish red wine that has just been placed in the tanks as I’m told that a representative of a well-known Rioja producer had to admit that his wine was better after the treatment! 

So how about the price? Well, sea aged wines are always going to be expensive because of the work that goes on behind the scenes. However, those aged using this brand new, patented system are a fraction of the price of the ‘traditional’ method of sea ageing. There’s a market for sea aged wines for sure (Graham is already selling in China for example) and the industry is making strides forward – this new invention is bound to be popular. Same result, far less expensive! 

Space means that I can’t write of Graham’s other successful inventions – but why not go to www.seaagedcava.com; as well as www.eldiablo.es and see for yourself, learning also how you can become an agent with exclusive rights?  

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