Why did researchers send wine to space? Why is wine normally not allowed in space? Why did astronauts smuggle hooch into space anyway? We answer all these questions and more, address wet burps, a toilet tea party, and bring it home with how to smuggle cognac into space in this Season 21 Finale of the Glass in Session® Winecast.
Resources from this episode:
Websites:
BBC: Why astronauts are banned from getting drunk in space, Lufkin, B. (20 February 2017) https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170217-why-astronauts-are-banned-from-getting-drunk-in-space
Business Insider: Astronauts are banned from drinking alcohol at work, but this hasn’t stopped them from sneaking everything from communion wine to cognac into space, Bhaimiya S. (23 August 2023) https://www.businessinsider.com/space-astronauts-booze-alcohol-drank-ban-examples-2023-8
Cordis Europa: What does fine wine taste like after more than a year in space? (Updated 8 April 2021) https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/429608-trending-science-what-does-fine-wine-taste-like-after-more-than-a-year-in-space
Decanter: Petrus Revealed as Wine Aged in Space, Mercer, C. (Updated 25 March 2021) https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/petrus-wine-space-research-project-455239/
Financial Times: Space Wine: What a trip to the stars did for a case of Petrus, Anson, J. (7 April 2021) https://www.ft.com/content/39c6ae7f-d2c8-4584-bac1-bb270c26cf2b
London Daily: (27 March 2026) https://londondaily.com/french-wine-that-spent-more-than-a-year-in-orbit-on-international-space-station-could-fetch-1m-at-auction
NASA: Meteors and Meteorites Facts https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/meteors-meteorites/facts/
New Scientist: Beer in Space: A short but frothy history, Davidson, A. (31 July 2007) https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12388-beer-in-space-a-short-but-frothy-history/
Russia Beyond: Space Smugglers: How Russian cosmonauts sneak booze into outer space, Levkovich, Y. (12 April 2017) https://www.rbth.com/science_and_tech/2017/04/12/space-smugglers-how-russian-cosmonauts-sneak-booze-into-outer-space_740566
Space.com: Red wine in space may age faster than on Earth, study finds, Weitering, H. (5 May 2021) https://www.space.com/red-wine-in-space-aged-faster
Other Podcasts Relevant to this Episode:
Jane Anson: Inside Bordeaux Podcasts https://janeanson.com/podcasts
Wine Scholar Guild: Mastering Bordeaux … A Primer with Jane Anson (23 March 2018) https://www.winescholarguild.com/blog/wine-culture/podcast-jane-anson-andrew-jefford-on-bordeaux
Glass in Session Episodes Relevant to this Episode:
S3E5: Wine and Oxygen from Grapes to Glass https://glassinsession.libsyn.com/s3e5-wine-oxygen-from-grapes-to-glass
S21E4: Booze Disasters https://glassinsession.libsyn.com/booze-disasters-s21e4
S21E5: Little Red Riding Hood’s Wine – Fairy Tale Turned Drunk History? https://glassinsession.libsyn.com/little-red-riding-hoods-wine-fairy-tale-turned-drunk-history-s21e5
Glass in Session® swag mentioned in this show: https://www.teepublic.com/user/glass-in-session
Glass in Session® is a registered trademark of Vino With Val, LLC.
Music: “Write Your Story” by Joystock (Jamendo.com cc_Standard License, Jamendo S.A.)