Underwater winery trial for Margaret River

Margaret River wine will be fermented on the ocean floor under a new trial led by a Western Australian abalone company that is about to place its latest batch of marine growth-covered bottles on the market.

Under the partnership between Rare Foods Australia and Winereef, 13,000 bottles worth of wine will be fermented in underwater vats at Augusta’s Flinders Bay, where Rare Foods Australia runs one of the world’s largest greenlip abalone farms.

The vats were designed by French firm Winereef, which produces 200,000 bottles a year using ocean cellaring on the Basque coast bordering Spain.

Winereef claims pressure from the ocean accelerates maturation, while constant movement produces distinct flavour profiles unable to be replicated on land.

The French firm has signed a heads-of-agreement with the ASX-listed abalone rancher to trial a 5,300-litre run due to begin early 2024, with costs and profits to be split down the middle.

Both companies intend to build a commercial ocean cellaring business following completion of the trial, though no formal arrangements have been made.

Rare Foods Australia chief executive Rob Jorden said the Southern Ocean’s temperature variation and proximity to vineyards made it a promising location for the trial.

“[In France] they deal with temperature fluctuations from about five to 25 degrees, whereas in the South West we deal with far narrowing temperature band of two or three degrees,” he said.

“The cellaring we're using is sustainable and scalable, and we are using the ocean to do what mankind is trying to do on land, but without the energy cost.

“We currently use two per cent of our lease for artificial reef for the abalone so we can put down quite a few of these vats, we're only going to put down 20-odd to begin with.

“The biggest risk we see in the business is pairing the wine with the story and getting it right to get the right clientele.”

To that end, Rare Foods Australia has employed long-serving Lion beverage innovation manager Simon Hanley to build the end product’s sales strategy.

It follows Rare Foods Australia’s foray into ocean cellaring in 2020, where bottles filled with wine were placed underwater for one year, during which time marine life attached itself to the bottles.

Under that partnership with wineries Glenarty Road and Edwards, bottles go on sale under the Ocean Signature series brand for as much as $260.

Mr Jorden said the two products – Ocean Signature and the Winereef trial – would be marketed separately.

“They are two slightly different approaches; one is an enhancement, the other one is almost a cellaring,” he said.

The latest 2,300-bottle batch is due to go on sale in November.