Experts say that the dozen Chateau Petrus 2000 which spent 14 months on the International Space Station appear to have evolved a distinct “gunpowder” aroma compared to the same wine on Earth after apparently ageing faster in zero gravity.
The bottles of a 21-year-old, 6,000-dollar, high-quality Chateau Petrus, French red wine from the Bordeaux region that comes under the Pomerol appellation, and which spent 438 days and 19 hours aboard the ISS, may be on the verge of revealing previously unknown ageing secrets to humankind.
A research programme called Mission WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer), developed by a European start-up called Space Cargo Unlimited, sent twelve bottles of Petrus wine – given a perfect 100/100 score by world-famous wine critic Robert Parker – to the ISS on 2nd November 2019. They then spent 14 months there before their trip back to Earth on 14th January 2021.
After the Petrus wines reached Earth, the private research start-up giant, which aims to find solutions for the viticulture and agriculture industries on Earth by harnessing space science, held a press conference at the Bordeaux City Hall in France on 24th March 2021.
Evidently excited by their project’s success, Space Cargo Unlimited co-founders Nicolas Gaume and Emmanuel Etcheparre said: “Mission WISE aims to advance research on viticulture as much as winemaking. This process and the ageing of wine remain largely a mystery.”
What followed after was an organoleptic analysis led by Philippe Darriet, director of the Oenology Research Unit of Bordeaux’s Science Institute of Vine and Wine (ISVV).
The tasting consisted of a panel of 12 people, including five panelists familiar with professional tastings, who evaluated the terrestrial and space wines based on their visual, gustatory and olfactory characteristics.
Nicolas Gaume, according to whom there is still a lot more to be evaluated, said that the first findings are very promising for the future of the research programme and added: “After being involved in this research project for the past six years, we realise that the outcome is really different.”
He told Real Press in an exclusive interview: “This research project has to be appreciated. The effects of space and the absence of gravity over the wine ageing process are largely unknown, and we only understand a quarter of it. That means there is no linear projection between what happens on Earth and in space.”
One of the wine experts included in the tasting, Jane Anson, an English journalist and Bordeaux correspondent for wine magazine ‘Decanter’ who has lived in France since 2003, told Real Press in the same interview that she discovered that the wines aged in space boasted a distinct floral and smoky character.
When asked if the wine aged in zero gravity reached a three-year-aging point she said: “It may have aged faster, but it is incredibly difficult to give a definite answer to that. In terms of what the taste means on Earth – it is definitely a more evolved wine.
“All I can definitely say is that I wasn’t expecting to detect such a significant difference between the two and I would love to see the research when they do the chemical breakdown of other bottles.”
Anson was excited to detect smoky flavours she described as “gunpowder notes that can be obtained as the wine gets older” in combination with remains of “fruity flavours, violets and roses.”
Even though it might be too early to provide definitive answers, the one difference that was detected with certainty so far is the development of the anthocyans, which are red-coloured pigments that contributed to a “brick red” colour in the wines sent to space.
Anson, who readily puts Petrus wine on her favourites list, added: “I want to know if what I tasted was bottle variation or real. Who knows, it could theoretically be a fluke. Until we try 3 or 4 bottles we cannot know.”
According to Gaume, a combination of factors accentuated the floral notes and brick colouring in the ISS wines, however, he believes that the absence of gravity is the main parameter that contributed to the evident change.
He explained: “When you are on the ISS, you are shielded from most of the radiation in space, which can be lethal. The station is providing the same conditions as we have on Earth except for gravity, which is the only parameter that never changed.”
Space Cargo Unlimited’s choice of Petrus’ monovarietal wine – it is a Merlot – of the 2000 vintage was not coincidental, as there has been plenty research into the wine over the decades and it would serve as great comparison material in the upcoming analysis.
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Top French Wine That Matured In Space Tastes Great
By FFOODExperts say that the dozen Chateau Petrus 2000 which spent 14 months on the International Space Station appear to have evolved a distinct “gunpowder” aroma compared to the same wine on Earth after apparently ageing faster in zero gravity.
The bottles of a 21-year-old, 6,000-dollar, high-quality Chateau Petrus, French red wine from the Bordeaux region that comes under the Pomerol appellation, and which spent 438 days and 19 hours aboard the ISS, may be on the verge of revealing previously unknown ageing secrets to humankind.
A research programme called Mission WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer), developed by a European start-up called Space Cargo Unlimited, sent twelve bottles of Petrus wine – given a perfect 100/100 score by world-famous wine critic Robert Parker – to the ISS on 2nd November 2019. They then spent 14 months there before their trip back to Earth on 14th January 2021.
After the Petrus wines reached Earth, the private research start-up giant, which aims to find solutions for the viticulture and agriculture industries on Earth by harnessing space science, held a press conference at the Bordeaux City Hall in France on 24th March 2021.
Evidently excited by their project’s success, Space Cargo Unlimited co-founders Nicolas Gaume and Emmanuel Etcheparre said: “Mission WISE aims to advance research on viticulture as much as winemaking. This process and the ageing of wine remain largely a mystery.”
What followed after was an organoleptic analysis led by Philippe Darriet, director of the Oenology Research Unit of Bordeaux’s Science Institute of Vine and Wine (ISVV).
The tasting consisted of a panel of 12 people, including five panelists familiar with professional tastings, who evaluated the terrestrial and space wines based on their visual, gustatory and olfactory characteristics.
Nicolas Gaume, according to whom there is still a lot more to be evaluated, said that the first findings are very promising for the future of the research programme and added: “After being involved in this research project for the past six years, we realise that the outcome is really different.”
He told Real Press in an exclusive interview: “This research project has to be appreciated. The effects of space and the absence of gravity over the wine ageing process are largely unknown, and we only understand a quarter of it. That means there is no linear projection between what happens on Earth and in space.”
One of the wine experts included in the tasting, Jane Anson, an English journalist and Bordeaux correspondent for wine magazine ‘Decanter’ who has lived in France since 2003, told Real Press in the same interview that she discovered that the wines aged in space boasted a distinct floral and smoky character.
When asked if the wine aged in zero gravity reached a three-year-aging point she said: “It may have aged faster, but it is incredibly difficult to give a definite answer to that. In terms of what the taste means on Earth – it is definitely a more evolved wine.
“All I can definitely say is that I wasn’t expecting to detect such a significant difference between the two and I would love to see the research when they do the chemical breakdown of other bottles.”
Anson was excited to detect smoky flavours she described as “gunpowder notes that can be obtained as the wine gets older” in combination with remains of “fruity flavours, violets and roses.”
Even though it might be too early to provide definitive answers, the one difference that was detected with certainty so far is the development of the anthocyans, which are red-coloured pigments that contributed to a “brick red” colour in the wines sent to space.
Anson, who readily puts Petrus wine on her favourites list, added: “I want to know if what I tasted was bottle variation or real. Who knows, it could theoretically be a fluke. Until we try 3 or 4 bottles we cannot know.”
According to Gaume, a combination of factors accentuated the floral notes and brick colouring in the ISS wines, however, he believes that the absence of gravity is the main parameter that contributed to the evident change.
He explained: “When you are on the ISS, you are shielded from most of the radiation in space, which can be lethal. The station is providing the same conditions as we have on Earth except for gravity, which is the only parameter that never changed.”
Space Cargo Unlimited’s choice of Petrus’ monovarietal wine – it is a Merlot – of the 2000 vintage was not coincidental, as there has been plenty research into the wine over the decades and it would serve as great comparison material in the upcoming analysis.
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