Maison Mumm has revealed the final design of Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar, the first champagne bottle and tasting experience designed for space travel and human spaceflight...
In a historic collaboration with Axiom Space, a leader in commercial human spaceflight, Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar will join Axiom's human spaceflight program and fly on future space missions.
Initiated in 2017, this ambitious project has now achieved full compliance with space cargo specifications and AOC Champagne regulations. Following on this achievement, Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar will join Axiom's upcoming crewed missions to low Earth orbit and extend the collaboration to Axiom Station, the world's first commercial space station, to test and discover the tasting ritual in the real conditions of space.
True to the avant-garde spirit that has been driving it since 1827, Maison Mumm has been pursuing a project since 2017 that is as ambitious as it is innovative. The first Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar model presented in 2018 set the framework for the project's different aspects – culture, design-innovation, wine - and generated observations - technical and oenological - useful for the development of the second model to be certified.
The Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar champagne will embark on an upcoming Axiom Space mission to test the tasting ritual in real space flight conditions. This will help finalize the development of the experience and make last-minute adjustments.
The ultimate goal is for Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar to participate in the pursuit of space exploration by taking part in life on board the station currently being developed by Axiom Space. As a result, space travelers will be able to enjoy a product that comes from Earth's soil as well as the savoir-faire of humankind, a symbol of our culture.
Champagne allows us to recreate an emblematic ritual of celebration and conviviality that brings us together on Earth: a real link that conveys common values.
In order to comply with the dual space-AOC Champagne specifications, Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar had to meet a complex set of constraints (e.g. gaseous liquid in the absence of gravity, pressure contained in the bottle, food compatibility, material specifications, size, ergonomics and intuitive use). All technical questions related to the design were addressed by Octave de Gaulle, the founder of SPADE, with the active support of CNES and the Comat design office.
Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar is designed in three parts:
Contained in a half glass bottle, the wine is secured by a perfectly reliable stainless steel opening-closing device. It only comes into contact with glass and stainless steel, identical to Mumm's blending vats in Reims - two materials that ideally ensure its preservation.
This assembly fully meets the constraints dictated by the champagne. A shell made of aeronautical-grade aluminum protects the glass bottle. The upper part, known as the "service" part, is composed of a long neck topped by a cork and a ring (which allows the cork to be retained and locks the bottle's stainless steel mechanism).
These two elements fully respond to the constraints dictated by space. With its futuristic appearance, Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar nevertheless has a shape that's similar to a traditional champagne bottle and reproduces as faithfully as possible the ritual of champagne tasting.
The conditions of tasting champagne in space differ on the physiological level with an alteration of the sense of smell. The behavior of the champagne is also modified: the bubbles no longer rise to the surface, so they don't release the aroma molecules they contain.
The sensory sequence is specific, creating new sensations. First, the sense of sight is solicited then the wine - in the form of foam - enters in contact with the lips and mouth and is inhaled through the mouth. Once inside the mouth, the foam coats the walls as capillary action takes place. The overall perception of the wine changes with the decrease in olfaction, which is a main feature of wine tasting. Certain notes are perceived more than others.
Taking into account these specific parameters, Laurent Fresnet, Cellar Master at Mumm has selected a blend of Mumm Cordon Rouge made with grapes from the 2016 harvest, which includes a majority of Pinot Noir - the House's signature grape variety – and is supplemented with reserve wines from the past five years (up to 36%). "My goal was to retain the freshness and power of Mumm Cordon Rouge, and to enhance the intensity of its aromas with more aging and a dosage liqueur made with wines aged in oak barrels," explains Laurent Fresnet, Maison Mumm's Cellar Master.
With an aging on laths extended to five years, the champagne has developed notes of ripe yellow fruit and vine peach, but also dried fruit, hazelnut and praline. Aged in oak barrels, the dosage liqueur, elaborated from wines, brings a touch of vanilla and pastry notes. As a result, Laurent Fresnet has reinforced the characteristics of the Mumm style - freshness, intensity, complexity - in tasting conditions where the senses - olfactory and gustatory - are altered.
