(Swissinfo) - One thousand bottles of wine were submerged in a crate on Saturday, where it is hoped they will age nicely in the ideal conditions provided by the lake’s depths.

The wine, which is a white variety known as chasselas, was lowered into Lake Geneva at the foot of the famous Chillon Castleexternal link. For the next three years, the bottles will remain suspended from a rope to a depth of about 30 metres (98 feet).

“We have not put the crate at the bottom, because it would be too deep, and there would be too much pressure,” explained oenologist Daniel Dufaux in a statement to the Swiss News Agency.

There is a scientific reason behind the stunt, as the conditions below the lake’s surface are ideal for ageing wine: there is a stable temperature between 12 and 13 degrees Celsius, darkness, low oxygen, and of course, 100% humidity to minimise evaporation.