The project was devised by FIS president Franco Maria Ricci and officially unveiled last week in Rome at the Foundation’s latest annual International Wine Culture Forum. ‘About four months ago I thought we should do some proper experiments to understand what happens to wine and vines in space.

Eventually, I decided that this year’s FIS Forum had to be dedicated entirely to this subject,’ Ricci told Decanter. ‘My idea would be to understand if the vine can live and survive in space (and even on other planets), and if so, when and where. I want to know if, in a century or more, wine will still be available to future generations,’ he said, explaining the idea behind the project.