After more than half a year of soaking at the bottom of Ha Long Bay, recently, the first batch of Da Lat wine was scooped up, witnessed by foreign friends.
Soaking wine at the bottom of the sea has existed for hundreds of years in many countries, especially in Europe, but this is the first time they have witnessed it with their own eyes.
Those who decided to bring Dalat wine to the bottom of Ha Long Bay are also anxiously waiting for the results, to have the next directions, with the hope of creating a special domestic wine product.
Then everyone exploded, especially when the golden Dalat wine bottles were covered with barnacles from Ha Long Bay.
The first bottles of Dalat sea-soaked wine were opened, and it was not possible to accurately assess the change in wine quality right away, but just "drinking" the emotions when scooping up each bottle of wine full of barnacles from the seabed, and filling each bottle with the blend of the flavors of the highlands and Ha Long sea, was enough to make the guests "drunk" and forget the way home.
According to Mr. Dang Minh Tuyen - Deputy General Director of Lam Dong Food Joint Stock Company (Ladofoods) - the number 1 wine producer in Vietnam - first of all, you drink it with emotion, because the bottle of wine is so beautiful and unique, but after drinking it, you will find the quality of the wine is different.
“To know the exact quality, we have to bring it to the factory for evaluation, but I see that Dalat wine after being soaked in the sea has a different flavor than the original. In principle, it will be better than the original wine because the nature of wine that is preserved at low temperatures and with little light will increase the flavor and quality,” Mr. Tuyen shared.
Mr. Nguyen Hai Bang, residing in Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Province, is the initiator of the hobby of soaking wine at the bottom of Ha Long Bay. After being quite successful in bringing thousands of bottles of imported wine and homemade Morinda officinalis wine to soak at the bottom of Ha Long Bay, he decided to invite Ladofoods to bring wine from Da Lat plateau to soak at the bottom of Ha Long Bay.
“I also intended to learn about Vietnamese wine to soak in the sea a few years ago, because I wanted to create a unique Vietnamese product. Then I invited Ladofoods leaders to Ha Long to visit and try foreign wine soaked in the sea. In mid-2024, we decided to bring wine, including white wine and red wine, from Da Lat to Ha Long to soak in the sea,” said Mr. Bang.
According to Mr. Tuyen, about 400 bottles were brought from Da Lat plateau to Ha Long, after being reinforced with a rubber coating on the cap and neck to prevent seawater from seeping in, they were transported to the sea.
However, super typhoon Yagi washed away part of it.
“After European tourists – who are wine connoisseurs – enjoyed Da Lat wine soaked in Ha Long Bay and praised the wine as delicious and emotional, and ordered some bottles to bring home, I officially proposed to the representative of Ladofoods to cooperate in developing a new wine product line, combining the values and reputation of Da Lat and Ha Long Bay. Currently, we are still thinking of a name for the new brand of this wine line,” said Mr. Bang.
