Napa winery to submerge cabernet in Charleston Harbor in experiment

A Napa Valley winery is embarking on an intriguing taste test of sorts in Charleston starting this week.

Or, more accurately, below Charleston,

Mira Winery said today it plans to become the first American winery to experiment with ocean aging by submerging four cases of its 2009 cabernet sauvignon in specially designed cages in Charleston Harbor.

The goal is to understand the difference between wine aged on the ocean floor versus wine aged in the warehouse.

Divers will place the cases on Wednesday. They will remain there for three months. Afterward, the wine will be tested and tasted with bottles of the same vintage stored in similar conditions above ground.

St. Helena, Calif.-based Mira Winery could not be immediately reached for comment.

It said several European wineries have experimented with aging and storing wine in the ocean, though it believes its project is the first of its kind in the United States.

“The ocean has similar ideal elements that impact aging – temperature, pressure, humidity, pressure motion, light — or lack thereof — and oxygen,” Gustavo Gonzalez, Mira Winery’s winemaker, said in the statement. “Is there something just as impactful and interesting in aquaoir as there is about terroir? We are going to try and find out.”

The president of Mira Winery is political consultant Jim Dyke Jr., who lives in Charleston.

See upcoming editions of The Post and Courier for more details.