June 05: Penglai is a small city in Shandong Province of China, where several wineries exist but one winery that has taken wine tourism to a different level is also known as Seafloor Storage No. 1 and it was interesting to visit the Golden Age Chateau winery and vineyards, before being taken in a big boat to a nearby island where wines are immersed and aged for 10-12 months changing the character, writes Subhash Arora who tasted the wine at the dinner, during journey to the station of immersion and then again at a beach party in the evening and found the wine very palatable though a bit expensive
Seafloor Storage No. 1 in Penglai, Shandong Province claims to be the creator and Leader of Chinese Sea aged wines. According to unverified sources they have been ageing about 50,000 cases of wines annually during the last 5 years after experimenting with the process for a couple of years. This is out of a total of 200,000 bottles they produce. Properly caged steel Pallets of bottled wine with undisclosed grape varietals (though we were told in the vineyards that the grapes being cultivated were Merlot) are carried to a nearby island for deep immersion into the sea.
Earlier, there had been a big festival of celebration of sea-aged wines by the producer in the central hub of the lobbies of the three interconnected hotels seemingly under the same management and ownership- Hotel Ocean, Royal and Knight where there was a Presentation and Launch of the sea-aged wines with great pomp and show on May 31 with audio visuals and a lively program presented by the commissioned organisers.
Wine bottles are well packaged. Each wine has a plastic sleeve on top with tell-tale signs of its having been in contact with sea-creatures. Each bottle is stored in a fancy individual single wooden box with an open front for display. There are also well made wooden boxes containing 3 to 6 wines for Presentation and storage. Each wine is priced at US $50, giving its producers potential revenues of $2,500,000 (US $ 2.5 million).
Additional revenue is generated from wine tourism with a boat trip to an island about an hour away where we were taken the next day. The trip was excellent and very 
well organised with all the trappings of a fun day out in the ocean with excellent food, music, entertainment and lots of beverages including the protagonist-Seafloor Storage No.1 red wine-aged under the sea. In fact, the township around the harbour has become a big tourist attraction where Chinese rush for mini vacation and enjoy the boat ride to the island.
However, the visit sorely lacked the focus on wines-and the process of ageing under the sea. There was a fancy cat walk by 4 tall and very pretty bikini-clad Chinese models holding the bottles in their hands; there were a couple of young female violin players to entertain too. But, there was no one to talk a bit about the wines. It was quite an anti-climax when there was an announcement at the island that the bottles immersed in 2018 were about to be taken out of the sea and new wines were to be sunk as we anchored but nothing more was said or shown to us and left me curious as before.
Though the bottles were strewn all over in several iceboxes for drinking, there was enough opportunity to taste them at the correct temperature of around 16 ° C. The wine was fresh and mineral in taste, drinkable better in the glass after wait or with decanting. But would I pay $50 for the non-descript wine just because it had been under water for a few months? I am not sure.
But with Chinese tourists thronging to the area with at least 7 big boats with a capacity of over 500 each I could count, with an option of open terrace, lower deck (2nd class) and the most comfortable deck almost at the sea level and with air-conditioned comfort, it is quite a way of spending the weekend with the family, enjoying the 2-way ferry ride.
There was yet another opportunity to taste the wine for the 3rd time- at dinner the same evening at the Penglai Haixianju Restaurant on the beach near Hotel Ocean where I was staying. Again, plenty of food, great ambience, lovely evening with loads of music and entertainment (in Chinese) and free flowing wine. A smattering of people even bought a bottle each to take it home and they were even invited on stage. But nothing was said about wine. If it had been a part of the programme it was all Chinese to us and not comprehensible. We were not any wiser about the wine after spending a full day and 3 events where the wine was displayed and served with all its frills.
One thing is for sure; China has joined the race for ageing wine under sea and appears to be thriving- as is the so called wine tourism for the thousands of people taking the ferry rides- the number of which could not be ascertained. For once Uncle Google could not come to the rescue as Posts are extremely limited and no more authentic than my personal experience.
Maybe on my next visit I will request a meeting with the senior managers of the winery, who communicate in Chinese or me carrying a Chinese-English translator with me. I am afraid there is not enough time to learn Chinese language which I would encourage all youngsters interested in Chinese wines or other products or their culture, to learn. Chinese wines are going to rule the world, thanks to the support from the government (unlike India) and the language does help.
Subhash Arora
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