DOC White

Bisson Abissi Riserva Dosaggio Zero, Portofino DOC

Vini Bisson
Grapes
Bianchetta, Vermentino
Denomination
Golfo del Tigullio-Portofino/Portofino DOC
Region
Liguria
ABV
12.5%
Body
Light to medium
Drink
Now–2029

Italy's sea-aged sparkler: Bisson sinks this metodo classico to 60 metres off Portofino, where it rests three years in the dark at a steady 15C. Bone dry, briny and fine-bubbled, from Ligurian native grapes. The 2019 Riserva is £69 in the UK.

Price
£69.00

2019 · 75cl · checked 10 Sep

Prices read daily from 1 UK retailer. We earn a commission on some links; it never changes the order.

Where to buy Bisson Abissi

£69.00 price · 1 retailer in stock · checked 10 Sep 2026

Stock is shown where the retailer publishes it, offers are sorted by price, and unavailable offers can’t be clicked.

Svinando Best price 2019 · 75cl · checked 10 Sep
Read from the retailer's page once a day. Confidence is low, so treat it as a guide and confirm at the retailer.
£69.00 £92.00/L

Stock status is read from each retailer’s page once a day and may lag.

Tasting Notes

Briny, dry and fine-bubbled: what 36 months at sea tastes like

Bisson's own note leads its aromas with salmastro, the smell of sea air, and runs to a long mineral palate. Vivino's 74-review profile lands close by: minerals and stone lead, with brioche and lemon behind.

Tasted by
Bisson (producer tasting note, translated from Italian)
Vintage in glass
2019
Source
Producer notes · confidence High
Taste profile
Body Light / Full
Tannins Smooth / Grippy
Sweetness Dry / Sweet
Acidity Soft / Crisp
Nose

Complex and intense, with a broad bouquet and a clear briny note: the producer's word is salmastro, sea-salt air. Vivino drinkers land close by, mentioning minerals, stone and honey most, with brioche from the three years resting on its yeast.

LemonLemon
AppleApple
PeachPeach
Wet stonesWet stones
BriocheBrioche
ButterButter
HoneyHoney
Palate

Frank and dry, in the producer's own sequence, with zero sugar added at the final step. Long and rich in minerality, with an elegant, fine-grained grip from skins that soaked for about 60 hours before fermentation.

Finish

Long, dry and intriguing, the producer's own words, with the briny, stony note lasting longest. With no sugar added, nothing sweet rounds the exit.

Overall

A sparkling wine aged 36 months at 60 metres under the Ligurian Sea, and the crowd's favourite Abissi so far: Vivino scores the 2019 at 4.2 from 90 ratings. One for fish dinners and for anyone who wants a bottle whose ageing, the producer says, no cellar can copy.

Drink now Best by 2029
Live UK pricing

Where to buy Abissi Riserva in the UK

One UK route today: Svinando lists the 2019 Riserva at £69 with free delivery. The producer's own shop prices it at 89 euros and currently shows it sold out.

Best price · 75 cl £69.00 at svinando
Price spread £69.00 Across 1 UK retailer tracked
Retailers tracked 1UK 1 in stock
Vintages live 2019 Current release: 2019
Per-litre (75 cl basis) £92.00 Per-litre price for the lowest current offer
Last checked 10 Sep 2026 Refreshed once every 24 hours
Wine fit score

How Abissi scores: occasion bottle, seafood specialist

High marks for occasions and fish dinners, low for everyday drinking: a £69 sea-aged Riserva is a story to open for someone, not a Tuesday pour.

Best for an occasion 9.2/10

A production story the producer calls a world first, Portofino on the label and barnacle-crusted gift bottles on request: occasions are the point.

Best with food 8.0/10

Superb across seafood, fried food and aperitivo; it simply is not built for red meat or spice.

Best value 6.0/10

£69 is serious, yet the producer's own shop wants 89 euros and is sold out; the UK price undercuts the cellar door.

Best for cellar 5.5/10

Already aged three years at sea; its retailer suggests a five-to-ten-year life, which we count from the vintage, so there is no hurry.

Best intro to this style 4.0/10

Bone dry, briny and unusual: a leap for a first fizz, a revelation for the curious.

Best everyday bottle 1.2/10

A £69 story bottle at 12.5% is for moments, not midweek.

Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.

Denomination Compliance Snapshot

Golfo del Tigullio-Portofino/Portofino in five fields

A compact view of what the Golfo del Tigullio-Portofino/Portofino denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.

Allowed grapes
Variety list not yet recorded
This bottle: Bianchetta, Vermentino.
Minimum ageing
Recorded by producer
Disciplinare ageing rule not yet recorded.
Region / area
Liguria
Style
DOC · Golfo del Tigullio-Portofino/Portofino
Classification
DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata)
Vintages

The 2019: the top-rated Abissi yet

Vivino drinkers score the 2019 at 4.2 from 90 ratings, ahead of every earlier year. It is bottled at 12.5% and spent 36 months on the seabed before release.

2019 Current release
Lowest price
£69.00
Retailers
1 in stock
ABV
12.5%
Window
Drink now through 2029

Vivino's crowd rates the 2019 the best Abissi year yet, 4.2 from 90 ratings. It spent 36 months on the seabed; its retailer suggests five to ten years of life, which we anchor to the vintage, so about 2029 at the outside.

Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.

The disciplinare, the place, the label

Piero Lugano's underwater cellar off Portofino

Bisson sank its first bottles, the 2008 vintage, in 2009, and claims the world's first sea-aged sparkling wine. By its own account the house holds sparkling licence number one for the province of Genoa. At 60 metres the sea gives constant 15C, darkness and slow-moving currents.

01

DOC, DOCG, IGT: what the badges mean

Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.

Golfo del Tigullio-Portofino/Portofino is in the DOC tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.

02

The denomination rules, in detail

  • Allowed grapes. Varieties not yet recorded
  • Tasting panel. No mandatory pre-release tasting
03

Region and area context

Golfo del Tigullio-Portofino/Portofino falls within Liguria.

The zone the estate stands in The producer

Made at Vini Bisson, Chiavari. Directions

04

Reading the label

  • Vini BissonProducer / estate
  • Bianchetta · VermentinoGrape varieties
  • Golfo del Tigullio-Portofino/Portofino DOCGeographic indication and quality tier
  • 2019Vintage (year of harvest)
  • 12.5% vol · 75 clAlcohol by volume and bottle size
05

What sits behind the price of Bisson Abissi

Tracked from
£69.00
Direction
Mostly cost up
Drivers
4 up / 1 down
Main factor
Three years on the seabed at 60 metres
  1. 01

    Three years on the seabed at 60 metres

    Cost up

    Sinking and raising steel cages off Portofino takes boats, divers and a 36-month wait for this Riserva before a single bottle is sold.

  2. 02

    Pressure-tested bottles and corrosion-proof caps

    Cost up

    Bisson uses glass tested to 24 atmospheres and crown caps built to resist salt corrosion; ordinary packaging does not survive the sea.

  3. 03

    Capital locked up per batch

    Cost up

    Standard Abissi waits at least 18 months underwater and this Riserva 36, so every bottle carries years of financing before it earns a penny.

  4. 04

    UK duty and VAT

    Cost up

    £2.87 of the £69 is excise duty at 2026 rates. The sea does the expensive work here, not the taxman.

  5. 05

    No barrels anywhere

    Cost down

    Steel, bottle and seawater: there is no oak bill in this wine, and the second fermentation happens in the same bottle you buy.

01

Three years on the seabed at 60 metres

Cost up

Sinking and raising steel cages off Portofino takes boats, divers and a 36-month wait for this Riserva before a single bottle is sold.

Perfect Pairings

Dishes that go with this wine

Food Pairing

Oysters, fritto and the whole fish menu

The producer's advice is blunt: seafood and marine dishes from the first course to the last. The briny, bone-dry profile is built for shellfish, and Vivino files it under aperitif.

Salt balance Strong match

Oysters, sashimi and raw shellfish

Salt meets salt: the wine's briny, sea-air note sits naturally beside raw shellfish, and its bone-dry palate leaves the delicate sweetness of the fish in charge. This is the pairing the producer puts first.

Try with: Oysters · Sashimi · Nigiri Sushi · More pairings →

Fat cutting Good match

Fried fish, tempura and chips

Sharp acidity and a fine, persistent bubble scrub frying oil off the palate between bites. Zero added sugar keeps the wine snappy where a sweeter fizz would turn heavy.

Try with: Fish and Chips · Prawn Tempura · Fish pakora

Body matching Good match

Mussels and the whole fish menu

The producer recommends it across an entire meal of marine dishes, and the wine has the weight to follow. Light enough for a starter, it stays long enough for a main.

Try with: Cozze arraganate · Fish Tacos · Salt and pepper prawns

Acidity matching Good match

Aperitivo and salty starters

Bone-dry wines with high acidity open the appetite rather than filling it. Vivino files Abissi under aperitif and appetisers, and fried or briny starters return the favour.

Try with: Gnocco fritto · Cozze arraganate · Oysters · More pairings →

Avoid Clash

Not one for steak night or hot curries

A 12.5% bone-dry sparkler has nowhere near the tannin seared red meat needs, and chilli heat tramples its briny finish. For steak pour a structured Italian red, a Barolo or a Chianti Classico Riserva, instead.

Skip with: Fiorentina steak · Ribeye steak · Chicken madras · Pairing guide →

Drinking + cellar

A decade of life, and barnacle-crusted gift bottles

Its retailer suggests a five-to-ten-year life; counted from the 2019 vintage that means about 2029. Bisson even sells selected bottles exactly as they surface, crust and all, as gift pieces: proof the packaging is part of the story.

Drinking window
2023 → 2029

Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.

Cellar potential
Medium

Already aged three years at sea; its retailer suggests a five-to-ten-year life, which we count from the vintage, so there is no hurry.

Buy now or wait?
Buy now

£69.00 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.

Sources & trust

Sources behind this Abissi page

Prices & stock

Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 10 Sep 2026, 00:52 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.

Confidence · High
Tasting notes

Notes published by the producer, quoted with attribution.

Confidence · High
Appellation rules & ageing

From the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.

Confidence · High
Why it costs what it costs

Our reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.

Confidence · Medium
Drink window & cellar potential

Style guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.

Confidence · Medium
Related

Grapes, places and dishes linked to Abissi

Grapes
Bianchetta Vermentino
Denomination
Golfo del Tigullio-Portofino/Portofino DOC

Common Questions

Abissi is Bisson's sparkling wine matured on the seabed off Portofino, at 60 metres down. Piero Lugano sank the first bottles in 2009 and calls it the world's first sea-aged sparkling wine. The sea gives a steady 15C, total darkness and gentle pressure, which the producer says no cellar can copy.

Three Ligurian natives: Bianchetta Genovese, Vermentino and Çimixà, in proportions that change with the vintage. The grapes are picked early from vineyards at Trigoso by Sestri Levante. Before fermentation they soak on their skins for about 60 hours.

Bone dry and briny. The producer's own note lists a broad, intense bouquet with a clear sea-salt edge, then a long, mineral palate with a fine grip. Vivino drinkers mention minerals, stone, brioche and lemon most.

Time and sugar. The Riserva stays on the seabed for 36 months, against at least 18 for the standard bottling, and it is dosaggio zero. When the yeast is finally removed, the bottle is topped with the same wine and no sugar at all.

Seafood, start to finish. The producer points it at shellfish and marine dishes across a whole meal; Vivino files it under aperitif and appetisers. Oysters, sashimi and fried fish all work.

£69 at Svinando UK for the 2019, while the producer's own shop lists it at 89 euros and shows it sold out. Serve it at 10C in a flute glass. Its retailer suggests drinking within five to ten years; counted from the 2019 vintage that means about 2029.

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Bisson Abissi