First Class wines

First Class wines

by Ben Edwards + Dan Sims

The allure of the ‘pointy end’ of a plane gets our hearts pounding, especially when facing the prospect of a long-haul flight. It helps to have a decent glass of wine.

There is much to be said for flying First and Business Class. It is no secret that among the joys is the quality of the food and beverage. The question is who makes the decision on what the pampered and fortunate few eat and drink? High profile chefs put their names to the food, but who is responsible for the wine in the glass, and how do they reach their decisions about what to serve? Some of the most influential wine people on the face of the planet are involved in the selection process for the big airlines. Wine critic Jancis Robinson MW (the MW stands for Master of Wine) takes on the role of wine selector for the award-winning wine program of British Airways. Michael Hill-Smith MW heads up an all-star truly international team with Stephen Spurrier MW and Asia’s first Master of Wine Jeannie Cho Lee MW at Singapore Airlines.
Until his recent passing, the indomitable Len Evans OBE ran the program for Qantas. Today, Tom Carson, Vanya Cullen and Stephen Pannell ably handle his vision for Australian wine in the sky.
Michael Hill-Smith provides an excellent sounding board when explaining the process of wine selection for airlines. His first foray into working with airlines was to set up the prototype for the Qantas Sommeliers in the Sky program, and put together a fairly robust and demanding course to concentrate on expertise and service on the planes.
For the last 20 years, his focus is the wine selection for Singapore Airlines. His selection panel spends two full weeks a year tasting all of the wine put before them. This roughly equates to 14,000 wines a year! He says the criterion for assessing the wines is to taste it without knowing what is in each glass (this is known as a blind tasting). Wines are also grouped by category, for example ‘Australian Shiraz 1st Class’. Each of the three tasters scores the wines out of 20 in accordance with the Australian show judging system. Then the wines that score the highest are revealed and the panel weighs up the commercial considerations such as price, supply, cellaring, brand recognition and drinkability on a plane.
“This is very important as cabin pressure affects the way you perceive wine,” Michael Hill-Smith says. “High acid and high tannin wines like many of those from Italy don’t usually get selected, although at the top level there are certainly exceptions.” Most major airlines follow this selection process, and account for a large amount of wine consumption. Singapore Airlines alone purchases AUD$30 million annually.
Tom Carson and the selection team at Qantas have to consider the same quality aspects of the wines that go before them, but with a slightly different focus. Given Australia’s reputation for quality wine production, the emphasis is on selecting only Australian wine, with the exception being Champagne and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir when crossing the Tasman. Tom makes a point that in First Class the wines will be well known brands, often considered icons by the trade and consumers; Henschke, Moss Wood, and Giaconda to name a few.
In Business Class, they can get a little edgy and throw in up-and-coming producers who are doing exciting things like Curly Flat, Clonakilla and Paringa Estate. This is a view shared by Michael Hill-Smith, as he explains that First Class travellers want to feel comfortable with the brands that are presented to them while they travel.
While the glory wines served at the front of the plane hog the limelight, Tom Carson gets very (and we mean very) excited at the level of quality in Economy Class. The 187ml program of bottling wines specifically and exclusively for Qantas to serve, has allowed some of the country’s best and most consistent producers to show their wares, and give everyone on the plane a drink to enjoy and discuss. Talk about giving everyone a ‘fair go’. You can’t get much more Australian than that!
With a better understanding of what makes the wheels turn in the selection process, let us look at the delicious morsels being serving up to the Fat Cats at the front of the plane. Among them are brands like Krug, Dom Perignon, Penfolds Grange, Chateau Pichon-Lalande, Cloudy Bay, Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape, and Coldstream Hills Reserve.
Then there are the classic areas: Bordeaux’s St Emilion, Pomerol, Pauillac and Sauternes; Burgundy’s Vosne-Romanee, Chablis, Corton and Gevrey-Chambertin; Napa Valley’s luscious Chardonnays and cerebral Cabernets; Mendoza’s spicy, warm and generous Malbec from Argentina. They all have one thing in common; they represent classic varieties, grown in the best regions for these vines to strut their stuff.
If you think they are spoilt for choice in Business and First Class you are right. The wines change all the time, so even if you do fly often, there is a very good chance you will get different wines more often than not. Naturally there are limitations for storage on the planes, so the depth of the cellar is not reflected on each and every flight. Managing what wine is served when is an art form that focuses on spreading the load, and finding a way to draw on reserves evenly.
Some airlines will commit to buying large volumes of wine from a producer, but then expect them to store the wine until they are ready to take it. Needless to say, most airlines will only pay for the wine when they order it, but the producer knows that the sale will come, and given the quantities airlines use this is certainly an advantageous situation commercially.
Now it is all well and good to have all this lovely stuff to enjoy, but that is surely only half the story, as the wine needs to be served correctly, with confidence, style and backed up by a certain level of knowledge.
Given Qantas’ commitment to training and their Sommeliers in the Sky program, it was pleasing to experience genuine enthusiasm from cabin staff when presenting, pouring and discussing some of Australia’s most iconic wines in the premium classes.
Recently Anna Augustine, the Marketing Manager at one of Melbourne’s best restaurants Vue de Monde, had the opportunity to fly both First and Business Class with Etihad. Anna truly understands what makes for a great dining experience.
“I put the food and beverage manager through his paces, and on both flights the service was attentive, gracious, knowledgeable and truly hospitable,” she says. So how can you best take advantage of the lavish spread prepared for your journey to an exotic destination? There are some people who believe that alcohol consumed while flying can dry you out and aggravate jet lag.
This is not necessarily so and if you dine with care and grace, then the experience of good food, good wine and good service will have you arriving at your destination in top form.
The first rule is to enjoy the Champagne while you are on the tarmac, as it is best consumed before the change in cabin pressure starts to take effect. The best piece of advice if you plan to sleep after your meal is to have the cheese, some fortified wine (maybe even two glasses) and then drift off into an easy slumber in your flat bed. Depending on what time of day you arrive at your destination, a glass of Champagne may revive the senses and provide a little spark to your personality.
A learned but nameless traveller of our acquaintance, recently said: “Flying in economy will get you where you need to go; this is commuting. Flying at the pointy end is travelling, where the journey is as important as the destination.” For those who have the means, we salute you, and for the rest of us, we now understand how much time, effort, money and training goes into getting everything just right. As sweet as flying in Business or First is, great wine makes it all the sweeter.