Out of this world vintage! $10,000 bottle of French wine that spent 14-months in space is set to go on sale with a $1 MILLION price tag
- A dozen bottles of Pétrus 2000 spent 14 months in space orbiting the Earth
- One of the wine bottles is set for sale and is excepted to go for $1 million
- Wine connoisseurs tasted one of the wines and said it matured faster
- This was compared to the same wine that had remained on Earth
- The space wine was said to have a taste of rose petals with notes of campfire, along with a brick-like coloring
A bottle of French wine that spent more than a year on the International Space Station (ISS) is set for auction at Christie’s Wine Auction in New York and a connoisseur may pay as much as $1 million to own it.
The Pétrus 2000 is one of 12 bottles sent into space in November 2019 by researchers exploring the potential for extraterrestrial agriculture.
It returned 14 months later subtly altered, according to wine experts who sampled it at a tasting in France.
Tim Tiptree, international director of Christie´s wine and spirits department, said the space-aged wine was ‘matured in a unique environment’ of near zero-gravity aboard the space station.
The trip turned a $10,000-a-bottle wine known for its complexity, silky, ripe tannins and flavors of black cherry, cigar box and leather into a scientific novelty – and still a fine bottle of wine, Tiptree said.
A tasting among panelists concluded the ‘space wine’ has a taste of rose petals with notes of campfire, along with a brick-like coloring – compared to the original red coloration it had prior to its time on the ISS.
‘It´s just a very harmonious wine that has the ability to age superbly, which is why it was chosen for this experiment,’ Tiptree said. ‘It´s very encouraging that it was delicious on return to Earth.’
A bottle of French wine that spent more than a year on the International Space Station (ISS) is set for auction at Christie’s Wine Auction in New York and a connoisseur may pay as much as $1 million to own it.
Private space startup Space Cargo Unlimited sent the wine into orbit in November 2019 as part of an effort to make plants on Earth more resilient to climate change and disease by exposing them to new stresses.
The idea was to have researchers study how weightlessness and space radiation affects the aging process, with the hopes of developing new flavors and properties for the food industry.
The first bottle was opened in March at the Institute for Wine and Vine Research in Bordeaux, France.
The space wine was presented to 12 connoisseurs, along with two other glasses filled with wine for bottles that remained on Earth.
The trip turned a $10,000-a-bottle wine known for its complexity, silky, ripe tannins and flavors of black cherry, cigar box and leather into a scientific novelty – and still a fine bottle of wine
A tasting among panelists concluded the ‘space wine’ has a taste of rose petals with notes of campfire, along with a brick-like coloring – compared to the original red coloration it had prior to its time on the ISS
Both the samples on the ISS and on Earth remained sealed in special containers and kept at 64 degrees Fahrenheit.
Nicolas Gaume, CEO and co-founder of Space Cargo Unlimited, who carefully uncorked the bottles at the Institute for Wine and Vine Research in Bordeaux, said: ‘I have tears in my eyes.’
‘When you expose wine, when you expose cells, plants to an environment without gravity…we create tremendous stress on any living species.’
Jane Anson, a writer with the wine publication Decanter, said the wine that remained on Earth tasted a bit younger, the space version slightly softer and more aromatic.
‘The main difference I found was heightened floral characteristics,’ Anson said about the space wine during a live press conference.
‘The one that had remained on earth, for me, was still a bit more closed, a bit more tannic, a bit younger. And the one that had been up into space, the tannins had softened, the side of more floral aromatics came out.’
The wine, being offered by Christie´s in a private sale, comes with a bottle of terrestrial Pétrus of the same vintage, a decanter, glasses and a corkscrew crafted from a meteorite.
The space wine was presented to 12 connoisseurs, along with two other glasses filled with wine for bottles that remained on Earth. Both the samples on the ISS and on Earth remained sealed in special containers and kept at 64 degrees Fahrenheit
It´s all held in a hand-crafted wooden trunk with decoration inspired by science fiction pioneer Jules Verne and the ‘Star Trek’ universe.
Proceeds from the sale will fund future research by Space Cargo Unlimited. Several other bottles from the dozen that went to space remain unopened, but Christie´s says there are no plans to sell any of them.
Tiptree said the price estimate, ‘in the region of $1 million,’ reflects the sale´s likely appeal to a mix of wine connoisseurs, space buffs and the kind of wealthy people who collect ‘ultimate experiences.’
‘I would hope that they will decide to drink it, but maybe not immediately,’ he said. ‘It’s at its peak drinking, but this wine will last probably another at least another two or three decades.’
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