The Ocean Fathoms sunken wine is no more after 2,000 bottles of wine were disposed of by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office with assistance from the City of Santa Barbara and the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. 

The federal Food & Drug Administration determined that the wine was not fit for human consumption, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Ocean Fathoms aged wine by dropping cages into the ocean. That process, and selling the wine, was done without permits.

Ocean Fathoms was selling its wine for up to $500 a bottle.

Emanuele Azzaretto and Todd Hahn of Ocean Fathoms started sinking wine 1 mile off the coast of Santa Barbara in 2017, and for years, they did not get the required permits from the California Coastal Commission or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Each crate was left on the seafloor for more than a year, allowing reef ecosystems to develop on the bottles. The crates were removed after a year with the sea life still living in them. 

Azzaretto and Hahn each pleaded guilty in July to misdemeanor charges, including illegally discharging pollutants into waterways, selling alcohol without a license, and aiding and abetting investor fraud, according to court documents.   

The wine was being sold without federally approved labeling and without an ABC alcohol sales permit or a valid business license. Additionally, the company took thousands of dollars from investors without telling them that Ocean Fathoms was conducting its operations illegally, District Attorney’s Office representatives said.

Ocean Fathoms advertised that it was donating a portion of its profits to local environmental charities, yet there was no evidence that the donations were ever made, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The destruction of the wine was part of the plea agreement. The alcohol was disposed of at Santa Barbara’s wastewater treatment plants, and the glass bottles were taken for recycling.

Azzaretto and Hahn were allowed to keep one bottle for personal use and not to sell, Deputy District Attorney Morgan Lucas said.

Ocean Fathoms recently posted videos of its wine bottles on Instagram. When someone commented offering to do a photo shoot with the bottles, the company posted a reply saying the bottles in the video were gone.   

Other people have commented and asked how to get a bottle of the wine. The company posted responses telling people to email them and be added to a waitlist.

Lucas told Noozhawk that Ocean Fathoms is not legally allowed to conduct any form of business at this time.