A bottle of Pétrus 2000, which spent 14 months aboard the International Space Station, is to be offered for sale by Christie’s. The wine is expected to sell for around $1 million, according to a Christie’s spokesperson.
The space-aged bottle comes in a display trunk, crafted by the Parisian art house Les Ateliers Victor. Also include in the package is a normal bottle of Pétrus 2000, a 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.”
Space Cargo Unlimited, in partnership with Thales Alenia Space and Nanoracks, sent 12 bottles of wine to the International Space Station for 14 months aboard a cargo module known as a Cygnus capsule. The wines returned to earth on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft on January 14, 2021.
The project looks to understand how plants adapt to the stress of space conditions, with implications for innovations for the future of food and agriculture on earth. 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.”
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.
The wine is available for purchase via Christie’s Private Sales.