California Wine Company in Hot Water After Authorities Seize 2,000 Bottles That Were Illegally Fermented On the Ocean Floor
California-based wine company Ocean Fathoms offers a unique product for customers: bottles of wine encrusted with barnacles, seaweed, and other detritus from the depths of the Santa Barbara Channel. But their signature product just got them in a lot of legal trouble.
The company turned over more than 2,000 bottles of wine and other alcoholic beverages to the city government of Santa Barbara after illegally fermenting their product in the ocean. They were required to hand over the merchandise to the Santa Barbara District Attorney's Office as part of their plea agreement. The deal included two of the company's three founders pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges for illegally discharging material into U.S. waters, selling alcohol without a license, and aiding and abetting investor fraud.
The attorney's office charged that Emanuele Azzaretto and Todd Hahn began dumping crates of wine one mile from the Santa Barbara coast as early as 2017. The duo didn't obtain the necessary permits from the California Coastal Commission or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to do so before dropping the crates on the ocean floor.
Ocean Fathoms' website claims the bottom of the ocean is the perfect place to ferment wine, as there's no oxygen, no UV light contamination, no sound, and the ocean current slowly turning the wine inside the bottles. The "sea cellars" remained underwater for over a year as a reef habitat formed around each bottle. By creating a product scarce in numbers, the company added value to their wine.
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The company sold bottles for about $500 each despite the FDA's warning that the wine wasn't fit for human consumption because it was submerged in the ocean and potentially contaminated. They also didn't have federally approved labeling on the wine and weren't paying the state of California sales tax. On top of that, they advertised that a portion of its profits would be donated to a local environmental nonprofit, but there was no evidence that they ever did.
“The motive for engaging in this unlawful operation was financial, and the People’s complaint alleged that nearly every aspect of their business was conducted in violation of state or federal law,” the attorney’s office wrote, per USA Today.
“This case involved individuals who operated with complete disregard for our consumer and environmental laws," District Attorney John T. Savrnoch said. "The case highlights the importance of our office’s relationship with outside agencies and it demonstrates our commitment to holding companies and individuals accountable for violating all types of consumer and environmental laws.”
The bottles that have already been sold are likely to become pricey collectors' items, as if they weren't already being sold for a pretty penny.
