Two underwater wineries, one in France and one in Italy, aimed at ageing local wines, enhancing the competitiveness of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, and creating innovative wine tourism routes.
Scarlino, a small town on the Tuscan coast in the province of Grosseto, has launched the Tiramisu project, as part of the InterregItaly–FranceMaritimeProgramme 2021–2027. Two million euros in funding, led by the local administration, and involving, as partners, the Province of Livorno, Promocamera (a special branch of the Chamber of Commerce of Sassari), the Dafne cooperative (Liguria), Petra Patrimonia cooperative (Corsica), and the Département du Var (Provence, France).
Prototype wineries
One of the two prototype wineries will be in Italy, in Scarlino, in front of the Terra Rossa mining and industrial archaeological site. The other will be located in France. The wines (as has already happened in other parts of Italy) will be aged in unique environmental conditions, using the pressure, temperature, and natural light of the seabed, without chemical additives. Monitoring will be carried out by scientific partners such as the University of Pisa and the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN). Together with the Province of Livorno, they will handle the scientific research, define the underwater ageing process, and design the underwater wineries.
The sea in Scarlino – photo courtesy of the Municipality of Scarlino
Experiential tourism
An acronym for Technological development of an innovative process of underwater wine ageing as a driver of competitiveness and attractiveness of the cross-border area sous la mer, the Tiramisu project aims to promote exchange, sharing, and understanding of innovative techniques for ageing wine beneath the sea as a means of modernisation and increased competitiveness for micro and small to medium-sized enterprises in the cross-border area.
The project, publicly presented on 13 May, also addresses the sustainability of the final product and the increased tourist appeal of the regions involved through the creation of dedicated wineries—designed to be replicable, reproducible, and visitable (both physically and virtually). According to the mayor of Scarlino, Francesca Travison, the project goes beyond technical experimentation and is a new way of narrating the region’s natural heritage. At the same time, it presents an extraordinary opportunity for experiential tourism, connecting the depths of the sea with the surrounding territories.
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