Felonies Dropped Against Ocean Fathoms, but Bottles Being Destroyed

Unlike the bottles that the company aged under the sea, the team behind Ocean Fathoms is refusing to be sunk, despite multiple controversies surrounding a business model that claims underwater storage improves wine. 

On Monday, cofounders Emanuele Azzaretto and Todd Hahn pled no contest to a series of misdemeanors in exchange for the dropping of multiple felony charges, which were filed following a March 2022 raid of the company’s Quarantina Street offices. The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s office also forced the company to pay $50,000 back to a disgruntled investor and will be destroying the underwater-aged wine that remains, possibly as soon as next week. 

Hahn was excited to share the news on Tuesday afternoon, the first time he’s been able to talk about the company since the raid. “The handcuffs have been taken off,” said Hahn, calling the charges “ridiculous” and laughing that all he was left with was a $145 fine. “The amount of money and public resources they spent on this case is just a joke.”