A Bottle of Wine Aged in Space Is for Sale for the First Time

As if wine wasn't expensive enough as it is!

Courtesy of Christie's
Courtesy of Christie's

It’s been a while since most of us were able to gather for parties with friends. Now that things are returning to normal, it’s time to make a splash on the social scene. Picture this: you and your friends get together for wine and cheese and you bust out a bottle of red but it’s not just any bottle—it’s the first ever bottle of space-aged wine.

Christie’s is auctioning off a bottle of Pétrus 2000, which spent 14 months on the International Space Station. It’s the first time wine has travelled to the ISS and back to Earth. In other words, one small step for mankind, one giant leap for wine drinkers. The bottle was watched carefully in a controlled environment as part of a series of experiments run by Space Cargo Unlimited, a European startup, according to a press release.

“This bottle of Pétrus 2000 marks a momentous step in the pursuit of developing and gaining a greater understanding of the maturation of wine,” Tim Triptree, International Director of Christie’s Wine and Spirits Department, said in a statement. “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.” 

This experiment wasn’t just about launching something unique into space. It was done in the name of science. According to a release from Christie’s, wine and vines are temperamental when it comes to changes in climate on Earth. Recreating an Earth-like atmosphere with no gravity aboard the ISS, or something similar, could lead to some serious agricultural breakthroughs in the future like space wine, space fruit, and even space veggies. Launching the wine into space also allowed scientists to study and better understand the yeast, bacteria, and polyphenols in wine. 

The space-aged bottle of Pétrus 2000 is available now and Christie’s expects it to sell for around $1 million, according to CNN. The bottle of wine comes in a custom trunk created by the Maison d’Arts Les Ateliers Victor and comes with a decanter and glasses because you can’t just sip space wine from the bottle. You’ll also get a corkscrew made out of a meteorite. Hopefully that one doesn’t get lost in your junk drawer like the others. As if that’s not enough, the money from the sale of the wine goes toward funding future space missions and research.

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Caitlyn Hitt is Daria IRL. Don't take our word for it—find her on Twitter @nyltiaccc.