As George Ettiyil, senior director sales, south asia, Lufthansa Group Airlines explains, while serving meals and beverages onboard, the biggest element to be considered is the change in the sensory perception at a high altitude. Especially, when it comes to selecting still and sparkling wines like champagne, the airlines must take into account several factors to ensure that the beverage tastes almost the same at an altitude of 30,000 feet as it does at sea-level. Although, taste is quite subjective, as it is our palates that experience a shift and not the wine served up while flying. Airlines now work with notable sommeliers or/and an entire expert team to choose an array of grape varietals that would please all kinds of palates.
Giving insights on the criteria for selecting wine on Cathay Pacific’s inflight F&B programme, Mark Sutch, the airline’s regional general manager, south Asia, Middle East and Africa says, “When selecting them, we consciously remind ourselves of the changes that occur to our taste buds during flights due to the lack of humidity, lower air pressure and background noise. Research indicates that the sensitivity of our taste buds reduces by up to 30 per cent when in air, so we choose wines that work especially well at a high altitude. Fruity wines with low acidity and low tannins are such examples, and this is one of the reasons we serve Beaujolais, a French wine.”
Master Wine Curators
Be it Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, British Airways or Qatar Airways, all premium airlines have their own unique way of deciding the beverage menu. In the case of Singapore Airlines, they seek the opinion of their esteemed wine consultants who give insight on different types of wines consumed across different regions of the world. There is also a customer insight team that monitors social media and direct customer feedback to evaluate the selection of wine and champagne for different flights and routes.
Cathay Pacific’s panel of specialists includes Master of Wine, Debra Meiburg and wine expert Roy Moorfield, along with other renowned members that curate a wine list based on a variety of characteristics, such as the type of wine, price, quality and brand equity. They, then, conduct a blind tasting to pick out the most appropriate ones.
As far as British Airways is concerned, Kelly Stevenson, wine and beverage manager, British Airways says, “We taste a huge number of wines to find the best ones for our flights or for the many lounges across our network. We choose the inflight wine very carefully with a detailed understanding of how taste buds can change at 30,000 feet. It depends on the tasting, but typically we taste around 20 wines to find ‘the one’.”
Qatar Airways has a team that comprises four DipWSET (a diploma in wines and spirits) qualified members, and is headed by an acclaimed wine consultant. The role of Qatar Airways’ wine consultant is to review and agree on wine categories with the wine committee and the Qatar Airways management; make recommendations on the timing of tenders and the categories to be covered, and to prepare specifications for each tender category. This includes recommendation on grape varieties, regions and countries to be considered; and drafting menu card descriptions or tasting notes for all selected wine submissions.
Wines onboard Virgin Atlantic are curated by Mark Pardoe, an acclaimed name in the industry who has been a Master of Wine since 1989. Similarly, Lufthansa has world famous sommelier and Master of Wine, Markus Del Monego as their wine consultant and head of the tasting panel. Monego’s work involves the wine descriptions for first and business class and the checking of wines prior to the loading period. Furthermore, to ensure that the fitting of menu and wines is in place, Monego offers a detailed crew briefing for each loading period.
As for Emirates, there are a number of people involved in the selection including the president of the airline and an expert buying team, which includes a professional sommelier. Working alongside with Maritime and Mercantile International (MMI), a subsidiary of the airline that distributes premium wine and spirits, the expert buying team pre-selects wines to suit the requirements of each of their routes or lounges.
It goes without saying that the cabin crew members also play a crucial role in the inflight beverage programme. Commenting on this, Stevenson says, “Wine training forms a part of the overall cabin crew training programme. Continuous information and wine facts are uploaded via crew education channels.”
Pairing it right
The pairing of inflight meals and beverages is a tricky element, due to the changes in taste buds that happen in a pressurised cabin. When asked about suggestions on pairing wine with inflight menus, a Singapore Airlines spokesperson says, “While flying, our air sommeliers are pleased to offer passengers advice on suitable wines to enjoy with the dishes on our menus. They take into consideration the taste profile of each wine (and champagne) to bring out the best flavours in both the food and wine. For example, our range of white Burgundy wines from our new sourcing approach, with their alluring aromas of butter and vanilla, pair beautifully with seafood and poultry dishes with cream sauces.”
Virgin Atlantic works around the idea of having a premium selection of wines available in Upper Class, which can be matched with as many foods as possible. “We take account of the differing ‘weights’ of food on the menu offering – salads and light fish need light whites, something like chicken will partner best with heavier wines. Lighter red wines can be enjoyed more easily with or without food. The mantra of ‘balance’ applies here too,” says Dave Hodges, country manager, Virgin Atlantic India.
Wines as per flight routes
Many airlines alter their beverage menu as per the routes they fly on, thereby allowing passengers to enjoy wine from the destination. A case in point is Emirates — their flights to France feature exclusive French picks such as the Château de Chamirey Mercurey Blanc 2016 from Burgundy and Château Laroze Grand Cru Classé 2011 from an organically farmed vineyard in Saint-Émilion, whereas on flights to Australia, passengers can taste regional wines such as the Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2015, from Beechworth, Victoria and Grosset Polish Hill Riesling 2017, from the Grosset winery in South Australia’s renowned Clare Valley.
Recently, Cathay Pacific partnered with Château Montrose, one of Bordeaux’s leading wineries to serve its popular 2005 vintage grape varietal in first class on routes between Hong Kong and London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris and San Francisco.
However, for Lufthansa that’s not the case. Ettiyil says, “The Lufthansa wine assortment onboard does not differ per flight route. We differentiate between short-haul and long-haul flights and as per class. It is our claim that the wine assortment is the same on all flights.”
Pro Tip: On a flight, if you really want to enjoy your wine have a glass of water alongside. Hydration is the best way to beat the head fog which often accompanies flying.
