With his Meteorito wine, astronomer Ian Hutcheon has found an innovative way to merge his passion for wine-making and astronomy, as well as make use of a meteorite that crashed into the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile about 6,000 years ago. The Norwich-born Hutcheon uses pieces from the 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite to create a Cabernet Sauvignon, which he sells at his astronomy center, the Centro Astronomica Tagua Tagua in Northern Chile, for £7 ($11 USD) per bottle.
To make his Meteorito wine, Hutcheon ferments Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for 25 days, and then puts them in a wooden barrel with a 3-inch-long piece of the meteorite. This is left for one year and subsequently blended with another batch of Cabernet. To date, Hutcheon has made about 10,000 liters of his Meteorito wine and has plans to release more alcohol products -- such as the 'Moonshine Meteorite,' which contains 50 percent alcohol content -- in the near future.
Cosmic Cabernets
Ian Hutcheon's Meteorito Wine is Aged With a 4.5-Billion-Year-Old Meteorite
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