Here's What Fine Wine Tastes Like A Year After Scientists Blasted It Into Space

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - Scientists who blasted a dozen bottles of expensive French wine into outer space more than a year ago are now sniffing, sampling and studying the alcoholic beverage to determine the impact of microgravity.

The International Space Station carried 12 bottles of Bordeaux for 14 months -- not for astronauts to sip but for scientists to study. The fine wine was packaged inside steel cylinders and remained corked until it landed back on Earth in January.

Jane Anson, a wine expert and writer for Decanter, was among a group of experts who analyzed the contents of a 2000 bottle of Chateau Petrus Merlot alongside another glass of the same variety that had stayed on Earth, before being told which was which.

"The one that had remained on Earth, for me, was still a bit more closed, a bit more tannic, a bit younger," she tells APTN.

Anson also "found there was a difference in both color and aromatics and also in taste," reports CNN.

Chateau Petrus is the most famous winery in Pomerol, a village in Bordeaux known for its production of Merlot. A regular bottle of the vintage would normally run you somewhere around $6,000 here on Earth.

The mission focused on how gravity and oxygen affect fermentation, bubbles and the aging process. Researchers say their findings could reveal a way to artificially age fine vintages and help make plants on earth more resilient to climate change and disease.

Researchers also found weightlessness seemed to "energize" 320 grapevines brought on-board in March 2020. They say snippets of Merlot and Cabernet vines grew faster than those on Earth, despite limited light and water.