Napa Wine Aged in the Ocean Yields Surprising Results

SF Weekly ^ | Thu., May 23 2013 | Anna Roth

[isthisnickcool]

OK, let me get this right. You lower something in a cage in to the the oean and you leave it there for 3 months and that makes it better?

Hmm...

And we need to make the IRS better?

Hey, I have an idea!

[Verginius Rufus]

If they are going to try this in the Atlantic Ocean, Charleston, SC, is the obvious place.

Charleston is where the Ashley River and the Cooper River unite to form the Atlantic Ocean.

Or so I've heard.

[Bob]

I get the impression they are just attempting to impress a limited few snobs who would not dare to dispute the Relaxed taste or if the Fruit was forward or reverse.

I'm reminded of Two Buck Chuck winning the blind taste test at the California State Fair competition in 2007.

July 12, 2007

The connoisseurs may cringe, the snobs may even sob, but the judges have spoken: California's best chardonnay costs less than $3.

Charles Shaw Chardonnay, better known as "Two Buck Chuck," beat hundreds of other wines and was named the top prize in a prestigious tasting competition in California.

"The characteristics that we look for in our gold medal winner … a nice creamy butter, fruity … it was a delight to taste," said 2007 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition judge Michael Williams.

The affordable wine beat out 350 other California chardonnays to win the double gold. Second place went to an $18 bottle, and the most expensive wines at the event, at the price of $55, didn't even medal.

More at ABC Story

[nickcarraway]

If it works for violins, why not wine?

[kingu]

I get the impression they are just attempting to impress a limited few snobs who would not dare to dispute the Relaxed taste or if the Fruit was forward or reverse.

Fruit forward generally means you get more of a fruit (grape) taste at the start of the sip, vs a more aged wine where the fruit flavor has dissipated. Relaxed typically describes a wine which requires less decanting time before unpleasant flavors have dissipated from the wine.

As for ocean aging - colder aging has been around for quite a while, and warmer cellars can give a marked difference in flavor. Typically, however, the difference is right after removing the cork - once decanted for an hour or so, it is difficult to tell the difference between a cold cellar and a warm cellar aging.

And yes, I drink two buck Chuck. The Savignon Blanc is particularly good this year.

[reed13k]

Currents in both oceans move the same direction in each hemisphere. Clockwise in north of the equator counterclockwise in the south. So the currents passing the pacific coast are colder than those passing the Atlantic coast. I imagine that temp difference was part of the difference.

[showme_the_Glory]

I put a six pack of beer in the creek....It tasted like semi-cold beer?

[Obadiah]

Next we’ll be seeing “ocean aged” wine for sale on store shelves.

My first thought. Maybe I'm too cynical but I see this as a marketing ploy for the well-healed who will now say they simply must have the ocean-aged wine and turn up their noses at others who can't afford such a delicacy.

Yeah, okay.

[Jagman]

“Both were fruit-forward and jammy”

But I like my wine ass-backward and clammy!

[kingu]

My first thought. Maybe I'm too cynical but I see this as a marketing ploy for the well-healed who will now say they simply must have the ocean-aged wine and turn up their noses at others who can't afford such a delicacy.

I'm waiting for not only 'ocean aged', but specific places in the ocean. 'Mediterranean Sea aged', 'Indian Ocean aged', and rather than the far too common 'Atlantic Ocean', it'll be Bahama Ocean Aged, or Cape Cod Ocean Aged... ;)

[laffnatu]

That is crazy! But.. it totally makes sense! Love it and want to try it!

[Wurlitzer]

Your point is well taken but as one who believes that words have or sure should have meaning, if they are to convey a thought to another human, concocting meanings to impress the inner circle does nothing to help those of us outside that circle.

And yes, I admit to not understanding the subtleties of Wine, it would be helpful to skip the fru-fru esoteric language and help more people understand assuming the point is to inform rather than impress.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

It’s true, I’ve had an occasion to try it. The wine’s tastes a bit salty, though.

How is that possible? If anything from the ocean environment leached into the bottle I would think the product would be unpalatable.

[Revolting cat!]

True, but what a possibility for jokes, good and bad!

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

He went ballistic because we were having fish and it was a red wine. Oh the humanity.

Yeah, yeah pal. Just fill it up.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Next we’ll be seeing “ocean aged” wine for sale on store shelves.

And just like 'organic' food...who is to say it is or isn't?
And just like 'organic' food...it'll have a price difference to match.

[Revolting cat!]

Light red wine goes fine with fish, the rule is not arbitrary, but it is related how flavors blend. Still, the con-a-sewers lingo is often, as you point out, used to impress and not to inform.

[MHGinTN]

I’m preparing fish tonight. I think I’ll have a Beringers White Zin with it.

[wbill]

To paraphrase the great Cajun Chef Justin Wilson....

"I drank red wine when I wants to drank it! The fish is daid. He ain't gonna care whut color the wine is!"

[nickcarraway]

At the farmers market, I usually see organic cheaper than regular at the super market.