California based wine company has 2,000 bottles seized for fermenting wine in ocean illegally

A California based wine company has lost more than 2,000 bottles of wine and other alcoholic beverages to the city government after illegally fermenting their product in the ocean. 

Ocean Fathoms was required to turn over their stash to the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office as part of their plea agreement, the district attorney’s office wrote in a press release Wednesday.  

Local wastewater treatment plants took care of the alcohol and the glass bottles were recycled.  

The disposal of Ocean Fathoms’ wine was the result of a plea agreement, one where two of the three founders pled guilty to three misdemeanor charges for illegally discharging material into U.S. waters, selling alcohol without a license, in addition to aiding and abetting investor fraud, the press release said. 

Ocean Fathoms driven by scarcity of product

According to the attorney’s office, Emanuele Azzaretto and Todd Hahn began to dump crates of wine one mile from the Santa Barbara coast as early as 2017. 

Azzaretto and Hahn did not obtain the necessary permits from the California Coastal Commission or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before placing the crates on the ocean floor. 

The appeal of aging wine in the ocean to Ocean Fathoms was the idea of scarcity. 

“A single bottle of rare and unique wine can engender unbroken dinner conversation even through the rise of the next morning sun. However, to most, scarcity is expensive; to the affluent it’s simply a part of ‘The Story’” according to the Ocean Fathoms website.

Those cases were left on the ocean floor for over a year, just long enough for a reef ecosystem to develop on the crates and bottles. 

“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. 

Wine brewed in the ocean is not safe

The business partners began to sell the bottles of wine for about $500 despite the Food and Drug Administration’s warning that the wine was not fit for human consumption because it was submerged in the ocean and potentially contaminated. 

They also lacked federally approved labeling on the wine, an Alcoholic Beverage Control sales permit or business license, and were not paying the state of California sales tax. 

Ocean Fathoms also advertised that it would be donating a portion of its profits to a local environmental nonprofit, but there was no evidence to indicate that any donations occurred. 

The pair was required to pay one of their investors back and are not allowed to continue operating their business in any way that violates state or federal law. 

“This case involved individuals who operated with complete disregard for our consumer and environmental laws … 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.” District Attorney John T. Savrnoch wrote. 

Ocean Fathoms has not returned USA Today’s request for comment.