Pétrus Pomerol 1986  

Pétrus, a major player in the world of rare wine, is one of those bottles you’re lucky to be in the room with. Given its limited availability and powerhouse status at wine auctions, it’s a label you want to keep your eye on as you learn the wine game.

Made up almost entirely of Merlot, the clay and iron soils in the vineyard contribute to the exemplary expression of the grape. This unique terroir provides concentrated flavors of black plum, exotic spice, chocolate and stewed berries. An absolutely lovely palate.

Drinking Pétrus is unforgettable. I find myself pretty excited being around it, too.

A bottle of wine from Chateau Pétrus, a winery in France’s Bordeaux region, from the year 2000 typically fetches more than $7,000, according to Wine-Searcher. And whoever buys the space-aged wine will also receive a bottle of the same vintage of Pétrus 2000 that was aged on Earth, in order to compare differences in how the two taste.

A dozen bottles of the Pétrus 2000 spent 14 months aging in zero-gravity aboard the ISS, orbiting the Earth while traveling 17,000 miles per hour. They were placed on the ISS by European research company Space Cargo Unlimited with the aim of studying the effects of space travel on the wine-aging process.

Heritage

Is Bordeaux enjoying a comeback? According to Frank Martell, director of fine wine at Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills, Calif., it is. The five most expensive wines at his small Sept. 15 auction (742 lots, with an aggregate of $1.5 million) all hailed from Pétrus. A dozen bottles from the 2000 vintage brought $51,660 against a top estimate of $47,500. A case of the 1990 sold for $44,280, and 12 bottles of the 1998 fetched $38,130, both above estimate.

“The Bordeaux market has certainly seen a swell in attention as the Burgundy market continues to price itself beyond the reach of many longstanding Burgundy lovers,” said Martell, via email. “This is the first time in my career that Pétrus appears to be a relative bargain, even to trophy hunters, but the shift in the market will soon be widespread. Mature Bordeaux currently offers a disproportionately high level of quality compared to other comparable wines."