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Those sharp cookies at NASA have discovered a comet that’s spraying alcohol about the solar system. Yes, that’s right, a comet is flying through space leaving a trail of booze in its wake that’s equivalent to around 500 bottles of wine a second.

I’ve no idea quite how the boffins worked out that’s the amount of alcohol that Comet Lovejoy (yes, seriously) is dishing out but it’s something to do with microwaves.

The wine simile came courtesy of Nicolas Biver of the Paris Observatory and lead author

of a paper on the discovery published in Science Advances.

Most of these floating time capsules orbit in extremely cold zones far from the sun. Occasionally, though, a “gravitational disturbance” sees a comet sent hurtling closer to the sun, where it heats up and releases gases, allowing scientists to determine its composition.

The team looking at this one found 21 different organic molecules in gas from the comet, including ethyl alcohol and glycolaldehyde, a type of sugar.

When Lovejoy passed closest to the sun on January 30, it was releasing water at the rate of 20 tons per second.

Some researchers think comets landing on ancient Earth delivered organic molecules that maybe helped with the origin of life and that the discovery of complex organic molecules in Lovejoy and other comets supports this idea.

There’s certainly a philosophical debate to be had, perhaps over a glass of wine, about how alcohol might be one of the building blocks of life on Earth.

That there are rugged wine coolers floating at the edge of the solar system possibly carrying proof that booze predates humankind must surely alleviate any guilt one might feel at the odd libation.

In fact, I’d say it’s worth cracking open a bottle to celebrate this cosmic intervention in our relationship with alcohol.

So which wine to drink as we look to the stars in search of meaning?

Well back on planet Earth, Direct Wine Shipments has been shortlisted, as one of four, for the Best Independent Wine Retailer in the UK award for 2015. Here are their ideas:

Down to earth:

At just £7.49 Esporão Pé Tinto from Alentejo in Portugal is described in Wine Enthusiast as “ripe, full-bodied character...smooth, almost New-World in style”.

And their white, Esporão Pé Branco, has none other then Robert Parker enthusing about a “fresh, clean and crisp” wine that is like a top Viognier.

Aim for the stars:

At £8.99 Torre de Menagem Alvarinho from Melgaço, Portugal is a Wine Enthusiast Best Buy which they say is “initially crisp & fresh [and] broadens out into a rich wine with a blend between lemon & yellow fruits that is delicious & concentrated”.

For a red (dwarf?!) try Porta 6 from Lisboa and seen on Saturday Kitchen. It has a “refreshing, modern style with linen-textured tannins and bright acidity, the fruit and oak are well-integrated”.