Petrus 2000 is the red wine aged in space, sold at auction for a million dollars.
It’s called Petrus 2000 the French wine aged in space that is worth over a million dollars. The bottle sent into orbit will be sold at auction by Christie’s and is more unique than rare. The French red wine, in fact, had the chance to refine among the stars, spending 14 months on the International Space Station (ISS).
Now that it is finally back on Earth, it can be uncorked and tasted at a very unaffordable price: one million euros. This is in fact the quotation set by the auction house, but the price could go up further. The proceeds will be used in part to finance new scientific missions for the discovery of space.
Petrus is a Pomerol Aoc (the French equivalent of Doc) of 2000. It is the first bottle of wine to be sent in space, monitored and controlled inside the Iss. The space flight was carried out as part of some experiments by Space Cargo Unlimited, which sent 12 bottles into orbit. The wine, which departed on November 2, 2019, returned to Earth on January 14, 2021 on the Dragon spacecraft. A flight that lasted about 440 days.
The wine that returned to our Planet was analyzed last March. A team of experts from the Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin in Bordeaux studied its composition, then some professionals dealing with wines and scientists made a special tasting. Finally a comparison with a red wine aged on Earth was made. The result? Amazing! The wine has not been damaged by the journey and the permanence on the Iss. It has also developed “remarkable differences in color, aroma and taste components”.
Whoever will win the Petrus 2000 will take home a unique wine of its kind. Christie’s auction, moreover, foresees that the buyer will receive not only the wine aged in space, but also a bottle aged on Earth. All inside a trunk reminiscent of stars and planets, made by the famous Maison d’Arts Les Ateliers Victor of Paris. Inside the set you can also find a decanter, glasses and a corkscrew made from a meteorite. And that’s not all: proceeds from the sale will partly fund new research to develop innovative solutions for agriculture on Earth and in orbit.