With Nesos and Abissi, the depths of the sea are transformed into a cellar – 19YouBao n.4

With Nesos and Abissi, the depths of the sea are transformed into a cellar

by Marcella Pace

The lulling of the waves, the salinity of the water, the darkness of the seabed populated by all its organisms influence the transformation process of grapes and wine. Thus the depths of the sea are transformed into an unusual cellar of absolute charm. Behind Nesos, the marine wine and Abissi, the submerged sparkling wine, there seems to be a similar idea, but the applications and methodologies used are completely different and make them two equally exceptional wine projects, and at the same time different in every respect.

The common denominator of the two experiments is a farsighted look of two winemakers towards the past, a return to almost legendary traditions, with the desire to create a unique and brand new product. Nesos, the marine wine was born in the waters of the Island of Elba, in Tuscany from the stubbornness of the producer Antonio Arrighi , owner of the “Arrighi Vigne e Olive” farm. Here the freshly picked grapes are immersed in the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and remain there for a few days to then return to land and begin the vinification. For the submerged sparkling wine, Abissi, on the other hand, the classic method bottles of the “Bisson” company of Pierluigi Lugano , pioneer of aging in the sea, descend into the depths of the Ligurian sea of the Baia del Silenzio in Sestri Levante .

Abissi, the submerged sparkling wine by Pierluigi Lugano

The relationship with Pierluigi Lugano’s wine is visceral. He entered the cellar when he was just five years old. With a past as a teacher of History of Art, Archeology and Design in high schools, in 1978 he created Bisson, his winery in Liguria. The study of origins that animated him in his first professional life also applied it in the second. The one in the wine world, giving life to Abissi, the first submerged sparkling wine ever produced in Italy that ages at the bottom of the sea.

Sommelier, former Italian vice-tasting champion, begins to deepen the quality of wine in every aspect. Also historical. “I wondered what the winemaking period had been, talking about the origins of wine, aimed at creating a ranking of goodness – reveals Lugano -. The thought went to a parable of the Gospel, of the Wedding at Cana, where after the miraculous transformation of water into wine, the table master spoke of better wine, so there was already the interpretation of quality ”. In this historical research, combined with his knowledge as a teacher, Lugano is struck by the tradition of stacking amphorae to store wine in the ancient caves.
“They were the first cellars and even then there was a search for a constant temperature, for the penumbra. By uncorking the amphorae found after centuries, however, they were dried up. In the Renaissance, with the invention of the first underwater respirators by Leonardo da Vinci, the first wrecks of the Roman era were found, in whose holds were placed wine amphorae.

When they were uncorked, the wine was there, perfectly preserved ”, explains the producer.

The studies in Lugano continue and the winemaker decides to refine the wine in the sea. “I thought that a sparkling wine, which in the field of wines is the most delicate and the most sensitive to oxygen, immersed in water, could improve organoleptically and visually, with the perlage taking on an incredible finesse , which under the aspect of elegance and quality “.

In the 90s Lugano began a long series of experiments that lasted for ten years, to identify the most suitable depth for temperature, pressure, but also the most suitable containers, to bring out an excellent wine. Abissi, the submerged sparkling wine.

The first realization dates back to 2008. Lugano immerses in the crystalline waters of the Ligurian Sea, the Bisson house sparkling wine produced with the classic method, (the first sparkling wine in all of Liguria), using three native Ligurian vines, the Genoese bianchetta, the vermentino and the cimixia. But there is also the Rosé version, based on cherry and granaccia.

The place chosen for the immersion of the Abyss is the Bay of Silence of Setri Levante. The bottles, after the second fermentation, closed with a classic crown cap, are placed in gabions of 550 bottles each, made with an anti-corrosion steel alloy. The depth is between 45 and 60 meters, with a constant temperature of 15 degrees, the absence of oxygen avoids exchanges and loss of pressure and gives longevity, the pressure is at 7 bar. And then the currents rock the bottles. “Here autolysis takes place in an environment where there is no oxygen and where the bottles develop the refinement process and are enriched with encrustations and elements that make them something unique”. On every single bottle, algae, sand, crustaceans, starfish are welded. All organisms that make them magical and fascinating. Once outside, they are wrapped in a transparent film, patented by Lugano, to protect an object that ends up on the table.

The bottles rest in the sea for two or three years, but there is a lot that is about to reach 10 years. The first dive involved 6,500 bottles, but today the numbers have risen to 30,000. “I chose to create a Pas Dosé, in the absence of residual sugars. It is a sparkling wine that enhances the characteristics given by the mineral salts of the territory – Lugano clarifies -. In the aftertaste-olfactory you can feel the iodine, and not because the bottles have been in contact with the sea for a period, but because they are vines grown in soils strongly influenced by the sea “.

Nesos, Antonio Arrighi’s marine wine

It was 2018 when in the mind of Antonio Arrighi, Tuscan winemaker, owner of the farm on the Island of Elba, Arrighi Vigne e Olive, which has its roots in 1800, the idea of an oenological experiment at sea develops. “Together with Professor Attilio Scienza, full professor of Viticulture at the University of Milan with the collaboration of scholars Angela Zinnai and Francesca Venturi, Arrighi decides to retrace the various phases of an ancient wine, the Chio wine, a small Eastern Aegean island. A sweet and alcoholic wine that was transported by sea. The presence of salt deriving from the practice of immersing the grapes in a basket in the sea, with the aim of removing the bloom from the skin and thus accelerating the drying in the sun, preserved the aroma of the vine. And so, on the trail of this fascinating myth, Arrighi tries to re-propose the experiment and creates his very personal marine wine, Nesos.

“We immerse the ansonica, a typical grape of Elba that we harvest around the middle of September, at a depth of 10 meters. The grapes are placed inside the pots, wicker baskets which are then blocked on the bottom with the help of ropes to resist the sea current ”, explains Arrighi. The experiment over the years has already seen several attempts with other grapes and to identify the right depth, currently tested between 7 and 10 meters deep, but in the future the descent will also be attempted between 50 and 100 meters, in total absence. of light. “We tried to immerse the aleatico, which in contact with water and its salt – explains Arrighi – lasts just seven hours, due to its very thin skin. Sangiovese is a little longer. While the anxonica, on which we have concentrated, also reaches five days “. Pull out the pots, the grapes are immediately placed in the sun to dry them and recover their sugars lost during the dive. This light drying on the racks lasts about 3 days, during which at night the grapes are covered with sheets to protect the grapes from humidity. “At that point the grapes are de-stemmed by hand and placed in small 25-liter amphorae, respecting the original dimensions of the Chios amphora, where it remains in contact with its skins until spring”, continues Arrighi. During the days of immersion, the sea salt also penetrates inside by osmosis, without damaging the grape. The presence of salt in the grapes, with an antioxidant and disinfectant effect, has allowed a limited use of sulphites, resulting in the production, after a year of aging in the bottle, an extremely natural wine, very similar to the one produced 2500 years ago.

The first vintage of this formidable experiment saw the production of 40 bottles, which today have reached 100. Nesos, whose name derives from the word island in ancient Greek, “is a different wine – admits the producer -. Due to its density, on visual examination it almost looks like a passito. The nose recalls aldehydes, varnish, enamel, has hints of almond and is very strange in the mouth. A notable flavor enters and after a few seconds it returns. And remember the sea “.