Earlier this year a dozen bottles of wine that spent 14 months ageing in the International Space Station (ISS) returned to earth for testing and tasting. Now one bottle is being sold at Christie’s alongside a corkscrew made from a casual meteorite.
The wine in question is a single bottle of Petrus 2000, which is a very fancy drop in its own right. At the time of writing this cheapest bottle available on Wine Searcher costs $4,451.
It’s one of 12 bottles sent to the ISS in November 2019 to age for 14 months to see how the space environment would impact on the ageing process.
The bottles were sent by Space Cargo Unlimited which specialises in testing how space environments impact on materials used on Earth.
It is said to have chosen the Petrus 2000 because of its ‘oenological criteria’ and the fact it was made from a single grape variety – merlot.
A control batch was also aged on Earth simultaneously so the results could be compared. It was believed that the microgravity and radiation in space would result in different chemical and physical reactions than the bottles ages on earth.
And according to experts, this was correct. You can read more about the difference here.
The Space wine heads to Christie’s
Now one of the bottles of space wine will be auctioned at Christie’s and is predicted to be sold for at least $US 1 million.
According to its website, the bottle will come with glasses and a decanter, as well as a corkscrew that has been crafted from an actual meteorite.
It is also presented in a custom made ‘trunk’ that exerts strong space vibes.
But unlike a regular Christie’s auction, the space wine will be sold privately. Boooooo.
However, on the plus side, proceeds from the sale will go towards the funding of future space missions.