Underwater Winery In Croatia Opens

Everything about the wines from Croatia's Edivo Vina winery is unique, from the initial harvest on the sunny slopes of the Pelješac peninsula to the bottles made with clay baked in Petrinja to the pinewood boxes made in Varaždin—and, most importantly, the one-to-two-year aging of the wine under the glistening waters of the Adriatic Sea.

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Edivo Vina winery in Drače, about an hour north of Dubrovnik on the Pelješac peninsula, is taking winemaking to a whole new level. Its underwater winery, the first of its kind, invites travelers to dive underwater and explore the unique aging process of its Navis Mysterium, or sea mystery wine, according to Condé Nast Traveler.

After aging above ground for three months, the wine is stored in amphorae, clay jugs used in ancient Greece. The jugs each have a narrow neck and two handles, and their insides are coated with a thin layer of resin, giving the wine a distinct pinewood aroma. The amphorae are then stored underwater for one to two years in padlocked cages to deter theft, according to the winery. 

So how do they keep that salty Adriatic seawater from getting into the jugs? All of the bottles are corked tightly, and two layers of rubber are added around them to ensure no wine leaks out and no salt water gets in.

The atmosphere underwater creates the perfect thermal conditions for both the natural cooling and silence that improve the quality of the wine, according to owners Anto Šegović and Edi Bajurin.

The end result are jugs covered in layers of shells, corals and algae that look like something out of an ancient fairy tale. Divers can see the jugs being stored in an old sunken ship at the bottom of the Mali Ston Bay, which operates as a wine cellar of sorts. And if you don't want to dive for the wine yourself, you can always order the bottles online. We will certainly drink to that.