by Sarah Kuta
Last updated: 4:35 PM ET, Thu September 17, 2026
Hurtigruten has raised 1,002 bottles of Barolo from Arctic waters off northern Norway after a year-long experiment to see how the Italian wine would change when aged in the sea.
The cruise line partnered with Italian winery Rivetto to submerge the bottles 112 feet deep at 70 degrees north latitude, off the coast of Kirkenes, where they spent 12 months in near-constant temperatures of 41 to 43 degrees Fahrenheit, complete darkness and pressure of about four bar.
Now, passengers sailing Hurtigruten’s Norwegian coastal routes will have the chance to taste the Arctic-aged Barolo while traveling through the same waters where the wine spent the past year.
The result, which Hurtigruten is calling “Arctic Barolo,” will be served exclusively aboard its ships sailing the Norwegian coast.
“After a year beneath Arctic waters, there was only one thing we really wanted to know, what had happened to the wine?” says Tani Gurra, front of house and beverage director for Hurtigruten. “You can create the theory, look at the temperature, darkness and pressure and believe you have the conditions for something special, but until you raise those bottles and pull the first cork, you simply don’t know.”
At an initial tasting led by Henrik Dahl Jahnsen, president of the Norwegian Sommelier Association, the underwater-aged wine was compared with a bottle of the same 2021 vintage that had remained in a cellar on land. According to Jahnsen, the Arctic Barolo had a fresher, more youthful character, with a brighter ruby color, aromas of wild fruits and flowers and fresher tannins.
“The difference between the cellar-aged wine and the wine aged beneath Arctic waters was immediately apparent,” Jahnsen says.
The project builds on Hurtigruten’s earlier experiments with underwater wine aging. In late 2022, the company launched its “Havets Bobler,” or “Bubbles From the Sea,” initiative by submerging 1,700 wax-sealed bottles of sparkling wine about 34 meters beneath the Norwegian Sea. After six months underwater, the bottles were retrieved and served to passengers aboard Hurtigruten ships.
Hurtigruten subsequently submerged another 4,500 bottles of sparkling wine in December 2023, also near Kirkenes. The second batch spent about six months underwater before being retrieved in 2024, with the cruise line saying the cold, darkness and pressure produced changes in the wine’s taste and mouthfeel.
For the new Arctic Barolo experiment, the wine came from Rivetto, a certified organic and biodynamic estate in Serralunga d’Alba in Italy’s Piedmont region. Before being submerged, the 2021 Barolo underwent its traditional maturation, including 24 months in large oak casks.
“What made this project special was bringing together Rivetto’s winemaking heritage with Hurtigruten’s deep connection to the Norwegian coast,” says Enrico Rivetto, owner of Rivetto. “Tasting the wine after a year beneath the Arctic was fascinating, and knowing guests will now experience it while sailing those same waters makes the story even more meaningful.”
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