Why this cruise line chilled its barolo wine beneath the Arctic Ocean for a year

Norweigan cruise line Hurtigruten has unveiled a new tipple across its fleet that has been chilled 34 metres beneath the Arctic Ocean.

Hurtigruten has raised 1,002 bottles of Barolo from the waters off northern Norway after a year-long experiment that aimed to discover what would happen when one of Italy’s most celebrated wines was matured in the unique high Arctic conditions.

The cruise line partnered with Italian winery Rivetto to submerge the bottles at 70 degrees north off the coast of Kirkenes in Norway where they spent 12 months surrounded by cold Arctic waters at a near-constant temperature of approximately five to six degrees celsius in complete darkness and under around four bar of pressure.

Now recovered and opened for the first time, the bottles mark the debut of Arctic barolo which will be served exclusively aboard Hurtigruten cruise ships sailing the Norwegian coast.

At the first tasting, led by Henrik Dahl Jahnsen, president of the Norwegian Sommelier Association, Arctic barolo was compared with a bottle of the same wine that had remained in the cellar on land.

He said: “The difference between the cellar-aged wine and the wine aged beneath Arctic waters was immediately apparent. The Arctic barolo showed a brighter, more youthful ruby colour, with a fresher and more precise aromatic profile of wild fruits and flowers.

“The tannins also felt fresher and crunchier, giving the wine a more youthful expression. I was surprised by how clear the difference was, and by the distinctive character of the wine aged beneath Arctic waters.”

Produced in Serralunga d’Alba, in the heart of the Barolo region, the wine comes from Rivetto, a certified organic and biodynamic estate. Before its Arctic adventure, the barolo underwent its traditional maturation including 24 months in large oak casks.

Tani Gurra, front of house and beverage director at Hurtigruten, added: “Taking one of Italy’s great wines and placing it in such conditions might sound bizarre, but that sense of curiosity is exactly what made the project so exciting.

“Now our guests will be able to taste the result while sailing through the very same Arctic waters where the wine spent the past year.”

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