A โ€œSpace Agedโ€ Bordeaux Is Selling For $1.3 Million
โ€” Updated on 17 June 2021

A โ€œSpace Agedโ€ Bordeaux Is Selling For $1.3 Million

โ€” Updated on 17 June 2021
Chris Singh
WORDS BY
Chris Singh

After spending more than a year orbiting the Earth, a bottle of literally space aged Bordeaux is expected to sell for US$1 million (~AU$1.3 million) through a Christieโ€™s private sale. Specifically, thatโ€™s a bottle of Pรฉtrus 2000, which was one of a dozen bottles of Bordeaux launched into space in November 2019 before spending a year in orbit as a part of a series of agricultural science experiments.

The interstellar Bordeaux, along with the other bottles and hundreds of grapevine snippets, as well as some other gear and several mice, returned to earth in January earlier this year, touching down in the Gulf of Mexico onboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule. Most of the wine bottles, which were each nestled inside their own steel cylinder to prevent breakage, remained corked aboard the International Space Station where they spent their time orbiting the earth.

Some of the bottles were opened at the end of February by Space Cargo Unlimited, the company behind the experiments. A crop of Franceโ€™s top connoisseurs were treated to a tasting, although most seem to have been saved for the next phase of the experiments โ€“ testing how space can alter the sendimentation and bubbles.

The wines which were tasted were noted for having remarkable differences in the colour, aroma, and taste components.

Of course, thereโ€™s one bottle of Bordeaux, the Pรฉtrus 2000, that remained unopened and somehow ended up in the hands of Christieโ€™s. The historic auction house is offering the wine for private sale, with all proceeds going towards funding future space missions.

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Whoever is willing to fork out over $1 million for some space aged Bordeaux will get a bottle of regular Pรฉtrus โ€“ henceforth known as terrestrial Pรฉtrus โ€“ as well, so they can compare the two. Also included in the sale will be a corkscrew, decanter, and wine glasses which have been made from a meteorite. The bottle will come housed in a special custom-made trunk by Les Ateliers Victor, which was made in Paris and took over 900 hours to make, which includes the colourful solar system shell inspired by Jules Verne, as well as a secret vault.

space aged bordeaux comes with a special trunk

The space aged Bordeaux is made from merlot grapes and was matured in a very carefully monitored environment on the International Space Station. It spent a total of 400 days in space, and travelled around 186 million miles in zero gravity before returning to Earth on the SpaceDragon.

โ€œThis bottle of Pรฉtrus 2000 marks a momentous step in the pursuit of developing and gaining a greater understanding of the maturation of wine,โ€ said Tim Triptree, who is the international director of Christieโ€™s wine and spirits department.

โ€œChristieโ€™s is delighted to bring his first of its kind bottle of the market and to support Space Cargo Unlimited to continue their research into the future of agricultural practices.โ€

some bottles stored in the space aged bordeaux trunk
close up of the space aged bordeaux trunk
wine glasses made from a meteorite

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Chris Singh
WORDS by
Chris is a freelance Travel, Food, and Technology writer. He has had work published by The AU Review, Junkee Media and Australian Traveller Media and holds tertiary qualifications in Psychology and Sociology.

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