Aquaoir Wine Tasting Survey Results

Mira Winery launched a national tour, taking place in seven cities in seven days, from November 6 – 12, 2013 that brought together select wine and culinary experts, restaurant partners and Mira Wine Club members and the public, to taste and compare recently recovered ocean aged wine (Aquaoir) to the same wine that was aged on land.

The Napa-based winery became the first American winery to experiment with aging wine in the ocean when it concluded a three-month experiment off the coast of Charleston, S.C. in May, by recovering four cases of its 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon from 60 feet below in the Atlantic Ocean. This process was coined “Aquaoir” by Mira, paralleling the impacts of the land based environment on grapes – an industry recognized term called “Terroir.”

“Establishing the process in Phase I was remarkable, and the outcome is something we want to share with wine enthusiasts across the country. Ultimately, the ocean may unlock secrets and revolutionize how wine is aged on land,” said Mira President Jim “Bear” Dyke Jr.

The national tasting tour included Charleston (11/6), Washington, D.C. (11/7), New York City (11/8), Palm Beach (11/9), Little Rock (11/10) and San Francisco (11/11) and Los Angeles (11/12). Fifteen selected participants included local chefs and sommeliers, wine club members and individuals selected through Facebook submissions at www.facebook.com/MiraWinery.

“During this tour, I was looking forward to sharing what we have learned from this experiment to date and letting others judge whether or not Aquaoir might create a more complex and broad, more open and relaxed wine,” said Mira Winemaker Gustavo Gonzalez.

At each tasting participants complete a survey comparing the taste of both the land-aged and ocean-aged wine, as well as what they would score the land-aged wine based off Wine Spectator’s scale.