Airline puts wines to the test

By GAVIN ENGLISH

Passengers on Air New Zealand flights drink 800,000 bottles of wine each year.

The men who choose what they drink gathered at Auckland Airport yesterday to make their selections. Their aprons were straightened by willing assistants, buckets were provided, and cameras flashed.

They sampled 578 New Zealand wines. The tasting was done blind, each flavour recorded on clipboards for later comparison.

Altitude, passenger stress and humidity were all considered.

So was the class to which the wines would be served.

Apparently first class require excellence. Business class are interested in solid flavours, variety and new trends, and economy stick with durability.

The type of durability that survives three months in a container.

Complex wines are out. The pressures of flying muddle the flavours, accentuating the strong and suppressing the weak.

Tannin and stalk are bad. Vibrant fruitiness and freshness are good.

The aim is to present New Zealand wine at its best. The word "showcase" floated around - as did the words "ongoing negotiations" when the Herald asked to be let in on the results.

Even the 95 Dom Perignon was subjected to a brown paper bag.

Air New Zealand inflight service director Jim Harre was one of three judges, each superbly qualified and prepared.

He said the hardest part was staying impartial while swilling and spitting so many entrants. Thankfully an independent adjudicator presided.

"Remember, a lot of our first-class passengers are non-New Zealanders," said Mr Harre. "Their first impression of New Zealand is what they get on the aircraft."