A bottle of wine that has travelled to space is now back and up for sale, with an estimated price tag of USD $1 million. The wine in question is a bottle of Pétrus 2000, made from merlot grapes in the Bordeaux region. It spent 14 months in orbit as part of a privately funded research study on food and agriculture.

Christie's, the auction house, has announced that the space-aged bottle of Pétrus 2000 is now available for purchase through private sales. Interestingly, a regular bottle of Pétrus 2000 will also be sold alongside the space-aged bottle, so the lucky buyer will be able to compare the two.

The Pétrus 2000 was sent to space by Space Cargo Unlimited, which sent 12 bottles of the wine to the International Space Station (ISS) in November 2019. After more than 400 days in space, travelling around 300 million km (186 million miles) in zero gravity, the wine returned to Earth in January 2021.

Scientists then analyzed the wine and a group of wine tasters got to try a batch at the University of Bordeaux's wine institute in March. Jane Anson, journalist and author of Inside Bordeaux, was one of the lucky few to taste it. She said, "It's hard for me to say if it was better or worse. But it was definitely different. The aromatics were more floral and more smoky - the things that would happen anyway to Petrus as it gets older."

It's a smart choice to send Pétrus into orbit because of its prestigious reputation and its ability to age. Pétrus is one of the few wines that can genuinely age for 60, 70, or even longer years. Ms. Anson was not sure whether zero gravity had an effect on the wine or if the journey to, from, and around the Earth did. "But there was a clear difference," she added.

The bottles were sent up to space as part of Mission WISE, a privately-funded space research program run by Space Cargo Unlimited. Nicolas Gaume, the company's co-founder, and CEO said in a statement that the scheme aimed to "help invent the agriculture and food we need for tomorrow on Earth" by examining the effects of zero-gravity and space.

The proceeds from the Christie's sale will help fund further Space Cargo Unlimited experiments in space. Mr. Triptree from Christie's said the research showed that "wine does mature in space." "Who knows, maybe the next astronauts will be smuggling wine up with them!" he said.

This is the only bottle that will be sold. Three were opened for the tasting, and the remaining eight will be kept back for future research. Château Pétrus only produces about 30,000 bottles of wine a year, and its product is consistently ranked among the most expensive in the world. A 2000 vintage bottle of Pétrus usually sells for about $6,000.

While wine has never been to space before, this experiment has opened up a new dimension for research in the food and agriculture sector. For wine enthusiasts, this rare and unique bottle of Pétrus 2000 is a must-have item to add to their collection, as it carries a new level of exclusivity and prestige. The age-old question of whether wines age better in space or on Earth will remain unanswered for now, but it's definitely a conversation starter at any wine tasting event