Augusta’s Rare Foods Australia expands ocean cellar offering in partnership with France’s Winereef

Augusta’s signature abalone farm has expanded its foray into a unique ocean-based approach to curating wine lovers’ favourite tipple.

Rare Foods Australia has opened its own version of the cellar door, stocked exclusively with wine aged beneath the region’s waves.

While the company behind the abalone project, which has a presence at the Augusta boat harbour, had previously experimented with using the ocean floor as a cellar to age and embolden wines, the latest venture expands that offering comprehensively.

Sales and marketing manager Simon Hanley said the company had a lot of exciting news on the go, releasing its Ocean Signature boutique blend while also partnering with French firm Winereef International.

The two companies signed a Heads of Agreement in October that builds on the success of the Ocean Signature release.

“The trial will involve premium Margaret River wine undergoing a secondary fermentation process in the ocean using a patented technique that has so far been used only by Winereef,” Mr Hanley said.

Based on France’s Basque coast, Winereef has honed its approach over the past 15 years and produced about 200,000 bottles of wine every year.

“Instead of the wine being aged in the traditional way – within barrels housed in a cellar – the wine will be carefully deployed in purpose-built underwater vats of about 300 litres by Rare Foods divers,” Mr Hanley said.

“The vats will be tethered to the ocean floor, but allowed to be gently swayed by the rhythm of the ocean, which keeps the yeast in constant suspension.

“On land, by contrast, the yeast must be stirred manually, then it settles again.”

Meanwhile, Rare Foods was offering its Ocean Signature release to the wider public for the first time, with online sales planned.

The bottles of sparkling wine, chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon were recently “harvested” after spending a year on the seabed of Flinders Bay.