So you’ve scrimped and saved, and your 2038 self and significant other are rocketing off into space for the first time, staying on one of the pricey but luxurious International Space Station-style hotels that orbit the Earth. But how best to celebrate your week away from work and your belligerent robot boss? How about by popping a bottle of the world’s finest zero-gravity champagne!
Okay, so most of this scenario is still science fiction, although it’s certainly becoming more real every day. However, the reference to a space champagne is totally legit. It’s the work of Mumm International, one of the world’s most established champagne producers. This week, the French company announced its new Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar vintage, a bubbly designed with space exploration in mind.
Officially launching (no, not in that way) in September, the new champagne is the result of a three-year partnership with space design agency Spade. While the contents of the bottle are what you might expect, the part of it that makes it space-ready is the unique design of the bottle. Or as Spade founder Octave de Gaulle said: “The big design challenge for Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar was actually getting the liquid out of the bottle [in zero gravity].”
Without the assistance of gravity, the unusual-looking bottle uses the champagne’s gas to expel the liquid from the bottle into a ring-shaped frame. There, it is concentrated into a droplet of bubbles, which float through the air until they are captured by an equally unorthodox champagne glass boasting a concave cup. The otherworldly experience continues when you drink the champagne, since the alcohol exists as a ball of foam until it enters the drinkers’ mouth, whereupon it transforms back into a liquid.
“It’s a very surprising feeling,” Didier Mariotti, Mumm’s Cellar Master, said in a statement. “Because of zero gravity, the liquid instantly coats the entire inside of the mouth, magnifying the taste sensations. There’s less fizziness and more roundness and generosity, enabling the wine to express itself fully.”
According to Mumm, this will be one of the first champagnes to grace the supersonic airliner French Concorde. There’s no word yet on what this space-age champagne will retail for, but we can’t imagine it’ll be particularly cheap. Still, if you start paying it off now, it’ll be taken care of by the time of your 2038 vacation!
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