Does wine mature better underwater? A look at the world's first submerged winery

At the bottom of the sea, there's an unusual sunken treasure trove.These cages are an underwater winery, where bottles of wine are left to mature, amid the rushing currents and marine life.

It's the brainchild of entrepreneur Borja Saracho, who noticed that bottles of wine recovered from shipwrecks sold for high prices at auction.So, in 2010, he began a research project to test if the ocean could change wine for the better.

What started as a research project has now become a fully-fledged commercial venture, called Crusoe Treasure.The underwater winery is in the Bay of Plentzia, just off Spain's north coast.Experts were invited to sample bottles aged in the sea and compare them to the same vintages left to mature on land.

White wines are aged for about six months at sea, red wines typically spend 12-15 months under the waves.Analysis by wine research laboratory Excell Iberica has shown they are chemically different to wines aged on land.

Water flowing from the nearby Plentzia River helps maintain temperatures around the cages at between 12 and 17 degrees Celsius (53 to 62 degrees Fahrenheit).

The underwater cages are not just a treat for wine lovers - they're a treat for marine life too.The structure is 20 metres under the surface and has been designed to act as an artificial reef.Crusoe Treasure employs a marine biologist to periodically monitor biodiversity around the winery.It has become a haven for more than 100 species of flora and fauna over the years.

The underwater winery currently holds about 2,000 bottles of Syrah, 3,000 bottles of White Grenache and 480 bottles of Viognier.More will soon be submerged to spend the next few months developing their unique, maritime flavour.