Pétrus wine aged in space expected to sell for $1million
A bottle of Pétrus 2000, which has spent 14 months aboard the International Space Station, is to be offered for sale by Christie’s.
According to a Christie’s spokesperson, the sales price for the wine has been estimated at around $1million (£720,000).
The unique space-aged bottle is offered in a display trunk, crafted by the Parisian art house, Les Ateliers Victor, alongside a bottle of terrestrially-aged Pétrus 2000, decanter, glasses and a corkscrew made from a meteorite.
“This bottle of Pétrus 2000 marks a momentous step in the pursuit of developing and gaining a greater understanding of the maturation of wine,” said Tim Triptree MW, international director of Christie's wine and spirits department.
“Christie’s is delighted to bring this first of its kind bottle to the market and to support Space Cargo Unlimited to continue their research into the future of agricultural practices.”
Proceeds from the sale will go towards funding space missions aiming to research the future of agriculture.
“After spending almost 440 days in Space, or the equivalent of 300 trips to the moon, legendary Bordeaux wine Pétrus comes back having been transformed in a way which is, literally, out of this world,” said Nicolas Gaume, co-founder and chief executive of Space Cargo Unlimited.
“The proceeds of the sale will allow us to continue Mission WISE, six experiments in space to help invent the agriculture and food we need for tomorrow on Earth.”
Space Cargo Unlimited, in partnership with Thales Alenia Space and Nanoracks, sent a dozen bottles of wine to ISS for 14 months aboard a cargo module known as a Cygnus capsule.
The wines returned to earth on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft on 14 January 2021.
The aim of the research is to understand how plants adapt to the stress of space conditions, with implications for innovations for the future of food and agriculture on earth.
The first analysis of the space-aged bottles took place at Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin in Bordeaux, in a tasting led by Philippe Darriet, the director of the institute’s oenology research unit.
A panel of 12 wine professionals and scientists, including Jane Anson and Erik Samazeuilh, compared the space wine with a terrestrial wine and noted differences in the colour, aroma and taste, concluding that the wine “positively endured all the constraints of preparation, travel, and storage on the ISS.”
The wine is available for immediate purchase via Christie’s Private Sales.