Wine Experiments With Microgravity: Zero Gravity Vino
Taste of Space: How Wine Changes in Orbit With Cabernet Sauvignon from MDW
In the vacuum of space nobody hears you slurp. But in space we know you can ferment grape juice into California wine.
Michael David Winery (MDW) of Lodi, is the first winery in history to conduct wine fermentation on the International Space Station. They’ve created a Cabernet Sauvignon fermented with space born yeast. This wine named Zero Gravity is offered at the Lodi winery.
| ‘When undressing from his spacesuit the creases and crevices of his EV suit would emit the smell of burnt chocolate chip cookies.’ |
The winemakers managed to get four frozen 70 mil containers of Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon to the International Space Station for an experiment. They were investigating the microbial ecology and dynamics of grape juice fermentation in the absence of gravity.
Similar containers of the same juice stayed on earth as a control sample. When the space juice arrived home they found it did indeed ferment, building up CO2. This is a sure sign of successful fermentation.
Something was different between the space bound juices and their earthly twin samples. The earthly samples developed the same yeast familiar to winemakers in Lodi.
But, there is a difference in the yeast of the space samples. The space yeast created a number of different strains. In the ISS the microgravity-grown yeast it developed a strain called Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. Shorten that to MT965.
The wine fermentation experiment conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) is part of a research project called WISE (Vitis Vinum in Spatium Experimentia) in 2021. The experiment, where four 70 ml grape juice samples naturally fermenting in the International Space Station (ISS), aimed to study how microgravity and space radiation affect the aging process of wine.
We purchased two bottles of Zero Gravity Cabernet Sauvignon on a recent visit MDW. The price came in at $26 winery retail.
How did it taste? Good. Soft. Part of it’s softness comes from aging 18 months in neutral barrels, no new oak taste infusion here. It’s not a tannic version of Cabernet but a tasty wine with a fun back story. You’ll want to enjoy this with softer foods, no steak nor spicy foods. Treat it like a Syrah or Zinfandel. And, you’re not likely to need aeration.
An experienced Space Shuttle astronaut told us space smelled like burnt chocolate chip cookies. After pondering that statement we asked the obvious question: ‘How can you smell anything in space when it’s vacuum, you cannot smell anything?’
He told us about coming back inside the Shuttle. When undressing from his spacesuit the creases and crevices of his EV suit would emit the smell of burnt chocolate chip cookies. Some molecules of space transferred back into the station.
We’re betting this bottle of Zero Gravity pairs well with those smokey chocolate chip cookies because every wine pairs tastily with chocolate. Hmmmm. Vino in space. Or on your dinner table at home.
Some notes on our wine ranking system.
Bill & Erin Hodge write about California Wine, the estates & winemakers producing them and educational information about Vino. Living in California Wine Country provides a front row seat to the places you want to visit the most here in the Golden State.
– -✰ means -What’s next on your list of wines
-✰ means -Not liking it too much
✰ means -We’ll drink this wine, especially if it’s hosted!
✰+ means -You’ve got our attention and we might buy this wine.
✰+ + means -We’re hooked and we’re going to buy this wine.
When you see -✰/✰+ with a slash, it means we disagree.
