2012 Cellars In The Sky

Interesting results.

BA come nowhere, apart from a burgundy in First which did not feature for long. Sticking to LPGC for so long, even in the CCR, says accountants rather than folk who care about the customer.

What I find more interesting however, as a very general comment, is the weight towards Middle Eastern carriers, who have clearly taken a great deal of care in their choice of wines, despite the obvious conflict that alcohol gives rise to.

The results don’t surprise me at all. Qantas always had a superb cellar and Cathay simply excel in all areas of air travel.

Quality, consistency and an attention to detail will always shine through.

VK, as I said, it was not on the list for long, and has actually been replaced by a Montrachet of inferior provenance and vintage. Shame.

You lot should really make an effort to go to the Taste of London event especially if you are or have been a GCH’s as you will have a chance to meet with senior members of the BA execuative team who are in charge of catering. So you can tell them to their faces how you feel and what you would like to see drink and eat onboard.

http://www.tastefestivals.com/london/

Did you manage to visit ToL last year, Alasdair?

I would imagine the reason that the winning Burgundy wasn’t served for very long is that it simply wasn’t available in sufficient numbers to sustain a lengthy presence.

When I spoke to the Head Wine Buyer at British Airways, he used this argument to justify the fact that he didn’t feature English wines on board. Thankfully, this was (briefly) reversed when his successor to up residence, but it’s still a factor when the volumes are taken into account (BA has around 4-5,000 F customers per day, with around 150 daily flights each requiring 6-10 bottles per aircraft for out and back stock).

So even one days operation could easily use 1500 bottles; suddenly the need for thousands of cases – and volume produced wines – becomes more apparent!

I do wish more airlines would take that approach – I recall a splendid “flight” of sherries (of all things!) on a Lufthansa flight in F.

I’ve only ever had sherry at funerals and when visiting virgin aunts in the country, oh and once in the Headmaster’s study when he decided to confide in me about the scandalous revelations in the papers, but that’s another story.

Lufthansa did it very well, with the staff trained to know a bit about what they were serving, and a specially printed serving mat with a space for each glass, and a brief commentary on what to expect alongside each glass. Superb!

A shame I still don’t like sherry much, but a good way to pass half an hour on board, and bring back the concept of the food/wine offering as an intrinsic part of the IFE.