A company which was using the ocean off the Santa Barbara County coastline to age its wine agreed to pour its product down the drain, as part of a plea deal to charges it broke environmental and alcohol control laws.
It was a unique idea, but Santa Barbara County prosecutors say it broke a number of laws.
A company called Ocean Fathoms was putting crates of its wine on the ocean floor off the Santa Barbara County coastline to age. It would leave the wine there for a year, before selling it for as much as $500 a bottle. The crates were there long enough that they could become little reefs, with sea life developing in the crates and on the bottles.
Prosecutors say the company didn’t have permits from the California Coastal Commission, and the Army Corps of Engineers.
They say because it was in the ocean, the FDA considered the wine adulterated, and not fit for human consumption.
And, State Alcohol and Beverage Control officials say the wine was being sold without valid sales permits, or businesses licenses. Prosecutors also say while the company collected sales tax for its wine sales, it didn't pay them to the state.
The company and two of its officials pled guilty to three misdemeanor criminal charges. They were placed on probation, and ordered to refund $50,000 to investors. About 2,000 bottles of wine were confiscated, and destroyed.
