Jean-Luc Boujon 06h18, March 02, 2023

In Tignes, Savoie, bottles and barrels of wine are taken out of ice.

Savoy wines that have spent two years at the bottom of Lake Tignes, 25 meters deep and 2,100 meters above sea level.

An experiment to observe the maturation of these nectars.

Europe 1 went to Savoie to observe this phenomenon.

A large hole drilled in the ice of Lake Tignes to collect bottles and barrels of wine.

"This morning, we just broke the ice, about 50 centimeters. The water is at three degrees. The barrels are placed at the bottom. And we went to install lifting parachutes to de-silt the barrels", reports Vincent, a diver , who went to observe the bottles before they were taken out of the water.

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Wines buried 25 meters deep

It was a helicopter that came to take out the two 500-litre barrels, plus a few bottles.

These Savoie wines have been submerged in this lake for two years.

Credits: Jean-Luc Boujon/Europe 1

"They are 25 meters deep. We put a barrel of Mondeuse, red, and a barrel of Chignin-Bergeron, the flagship of our Savoyard grape varieties, a white. Both barrels have aged prematurely. At these depths, in one year, we take three to four years of aging. In two years, that's eight years, nine years of maturation. This should give something very good", reports Pierre Perceval, a winemaker, at the microphone of Europe 1.

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"Aging is not the same as in the cellar"

And the result is there according to Clément Bouvier, restaurateur in Tignes.

"The aging is not the same as in the cellar. It is a very particular wine, fat, very fresh, with notes of citrus fruits and lemon. So it goes very well with the fish from the lake on the menu and it's a unique experience", reports Clément Bouvier.

A rare wine indeed, since only 800 bottles will be put on sale.