space champagne

Countdown to lift-off: Maison Mumm is bringing conviviality and celebration further that we could ever imagine… where it has yet to be invented.

One of the first champagnes to grace the supersonic airliner French Concorde, Mumm will now be the first to be served outside the Earth’s atmosphere.

In September 2018, Pioneer chamapgne Maison Mumm officially launches Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar: a groundbreaking feat of technology that makes it possible for astronauts and other space travelers to enjoy champagne in the challenging surroundings of zero gravity. The fruit of a three-year partnership with Spade – a young agency specialized in space design – Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar employs a revolutionary new bottle and glass concept to transform life in space, making a high-tech champagne ritual available to all in the very near future. Thanks
to Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar, Mumm’s art of celebration – along with a range of exciting new taste characteristics – will now accompany daring achievers in the new era of space exploration.

For Cordon Stellar, Mumm has joined forces with a cutting-edge design start-up. Founded by Octave de Gaulle, Spade is an agency specialized in designing objects for use in space. “For the last 40 years, space travel has been shaped by engineers rather than designers. Instead of seeing zero gravity as a problem to be solved, we look at it as a design possibility,” Octave de Gaulle explains. “The big design challenge for Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar was actually getting the liquid out of the bottle.”

The high-tech bottle design crafted from transparent glass uses the champagne’s gas to expel the liquid into a ring- shaped frame, where it is concentrated into a droplet of bubbles. It can then be passed to someone and released into the air, where it floats until gathered up in a specially designed glass.

The innovation isn’t confined to technology. In the unique conditions of zero gravity, Mumm Grand Cordon takes on new and unsuspected taste characteristics too. The sensations begin as soon as the wine leaves the bottle, appearing as an effervescent ball of foam. The novelty continues when the champagne enters the mouth, where the foam transforms itself into a liquid. “It’s a very surprising feeling,” explains Mumm’s Cellar Master Didier Mariotti.

“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.” The result intensifies and concentrates Mumm Grand Cordon’s signature style, unleashing the power of Pinot Noir.

The new glass design features a tapering stem – adorned with a red sash in homage to Mumm Grand Cordon – crowned by a slightly concave cup five centimeters in diameter. Surface tension makes the floating droplet adhere to the glass, allowing it to be raised to the lips.

Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar should soon be served to participants in the zero gravity flights organized by Air Zero G, while discussions are in progress to supply it to future space missions and commercial space flights.