New York (AFP)
A 2000 bottle of Petrus that traveled to space is on sale at Christie's, which estimates its price at around a million dollars (830,000 euros), which would make it, if it reached this amount, the specimen the most expensive in the world.
The bottle is part of a batch of twelve bottles sent to the International Space Station (ISS) in November 2019, at the initiative of the European start-up Space Cargo Unlimited (SCU).
After 14 months of maturation in orbit, the precious vials returned to Earth's soil last January.
Tests since carried out by the Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences (ISVV) at the University of Bordeaux have shown that the Petrus was still "a very great wine" after its stay in space.
At the end of a blind tasting, differences were nevertheless noted between the "celestial" version and the one that remained on earth, mainly in color, but also, sometimes, in the nuances of odors and taste.
It is one of these space bottles which is on sale via the auction house Christie's, with an estimate "in the neighborhood of a million dollars", a spokesperson told AFP on Tuesday.
The proceeds from the sale will go to finance agricultural research and future space flights.
If the bottle met, or even approached, the estimated price, it would set a new record for certified sales of wine.
The current reference, for a standard capacity (75 cl), was established in October 2018 during a sale at Sotheby's in New York for a bottle of Romanée-Conti (Burgundy) vintage 1945, acquired for $ 558,000.
This is not an auction but a private sale, which means that the price and the acquirer will remain confidential unless the latter chooses to reveal himself publicly.
Petrus is one of the Pomerol appellation wines and is considered one of the most famous wines in the world.
The estate is located in the Bordeaux vineyards.
A classic bottle of Petrus 2000, considered a great vintage, is now trading at around 4,500 euros (around $ 5,400).
© 2021 AFP