Bisson
Talking about the Bisson winery means diving into the marine depths among fish, shellfish, seaweed, shells, rocks, starfish, and, above all, bottles of wine. Our adventure begins in 1978, when Pierluigi Lugano abandons his profession as an art history teacher to found a winery in the heart of Tigullio, sensing great hidden potential in the wines of the Ligurian farmers and determined to enhance the native grape varieties.
From the Bisson winery, typical and territorial wines linked to the Ligurian tradition begin to emerge, but produced with modern techniques. Pierluigi starts acquiring vineyards in Trigoso, Campegli, Verici, Volastra, and in the Cinque Terre. In the early 2000s, Pierluigi is determined to produce a Metodo Classico sparkling wine with the grapes from the area but does not have an underground cellar for aging, and the obstacle seems insurmountable: where to find the right conditions of dim light and low, constant temperatures? Here comes the stroke of genius: at the bottom of the sea!
Vermentino, Cimix) and from aging in the bottle at 60 meters below sea level, at a constant temperature of 15°C, off the Cala degli Inglesi in the Portofino Marine Park. The bottles are placed in steel cages and positioned on the seabed by professional divers. Once aging is complete, they are retrieved for settling and disgorging: when they return to the surface, the bottles are works of art, adorned by time and the rest in the depths of the sea. They are then wrapped in a transparent film and subsequently marketed.
The underwater adventure of the Bisson winery was initially greeted as madness or a science fiction idea, but after tasting the Metodo Classico sparkling wine “Abissi,” critics and the public agreed in recognizing Pierluigi's brilliant intuition, joining the enthusiasm of the New York Times and an ever-increasing number of admirers from around the world.
Talking about the Bisson winery means diving into the marine depths among fish, shellfish, seaweed, shells, rocks, starfish, and, above all, bottles of wine. Our adventure begins in 1978, when Pierluigi Lugano abandons his profession as an art history teacher to found a winery in the heart of Tigullio, sensing great hidden potential in the wines of the Ligurian farmers and determined to enhance the native grape varieties.
From the Bisson winery, typical and territorial wines linked to the Ligurian tradition begin to emerge, but produced with modern techniques. Pierluigi starts acquiring vineyards in Trigoso, Campegli, Verici, Volastra, and in the Cinque Terre. In the early 2000s, Pierluigi is determined to produce a Metodo Classico sparkling wine with the grapes from the area but does not have an underground cellar for aging, and the obstacle seems insurmountable: where to find the right conditions of dim light and low, constant temperatures? Here comes the stroke of genius: at the bottom of the sea!
Vermentino, Cimix) and from aging in the bottle at 60 meters below sea level, at a constant temperature of 15°C, off the Cala degli Inglesi in the Portofino Marine Park. The bottles are placed in steel cages and positioned on the seabed by professional divers. Once aging is complete, they are retrieved for settling and disgorging: when they return to the surface, the bottles are works of art, adorned by time and the rest in the depths of the sea. They are then wrapped in a transparent film and subsequently marketed.
The underwater adventure of the Bisson winery was initially greeted as madness or a science fiction idea, but after tasting the Metodo Classico sparkling wine “Abissi,” critics and the public agreed in recognizing Pierluigi's brilliant intuition, joining the enthusiasm of the New York Times and an ever-increasing number of admirers from around the world.
