Turns out wine really does taste different on the plane. Photo / Supplied
Turns out wine really does taste different on the plane. Photo / Supplied
If you have ever sat on a flight and assumed your airline picks and chooses its onboard reds and whites based solely on who gave them the best bulk buy deal, you’re not alone.
Surely a vibrant red goes with your beef dishes and a $20-ish white pairs with chicken or fish and the complexities stop there?
It turns out the complexities have in fact been months, years and even decades in the making with key factors - such as the fact that wine really does taste different in the air - all taken into consideration.
Singapore Airlines took Herald Lifestyle and Travel audience editor Jenni Mortimer exclusively behind the scenes during their Singapore-based Wine Week to see how and why they make their choices, explain why wine tastes different in-flight and why New Zealand wines are in hot demand.
In Singapore Airlines’ wine tasting room, three expert winemakers have their noses firmly poised in glasses with 3000 tinfoil-wrapped wines, of every variety, in front of them ready to be blind tested.
Their task - choosing the exact right tasting wine for each meal, class and customer experience. It’s overwhelming, to say the least.
Left to right: Global wine experts Michael Hill Smith, from Australia, Jeannie Cho Lee, from Hong Kong, and Oz Clarke, from the UK. Photos / Supplied
Global wine consultants Michael Hill Smith, from Australia, Jeannie Cho Lee, from Hong Kong and Oz Clarke, from the UK are the pros tasked with the massive job. Experts in their craft, honing in on decades of experience and accolades, the trio tour the world securing the best wines in the world that will sit perfectly with the onboard food pairings.
Based on these consultants’ advice, Singapore Airlines then makes their decisions and begins to try to secure their choices. The airline was recently awarded best overall Cellar in the Sky, so it’s a task that they don’t take lightly.
The airline has to be able to secure enough of the wine to make it worth the buy and the price point has to be right for the class that the passenger is travelling - the balance is arguably as tricky as the winemaking itself.
Yes, the wines are judged on their appearance, smell and taste, but they are also scrutinised on how they will taste in the air – the aircraft cabin environment tends to be drier by nature, which changes the taste of the wine.
The wine you're served on the plane is chosen with the in-air pressurised environment in mind. Photo / Supplied
In the air, passengers’ noses and mouths begin to dry out - pair this with a pressurised cabin and lower oxygen levels and a wine’s aromatic compounds can change and disappear faster than normal, and their acidity can become accentuated.
After considering all these factors and tasting in a pressurised environment, wines are acquired and stored in a climate-controlled facility in Singapore, ready to be paired with the meals and seasons where they best shine before they are loaded on to your plane.
With the airline serving around 2.1 million bottles of wine and champagne on board each year, it sources from practically every continent but does admit they and their customers have an affinity with New Zealand wines, with our sauvignon blanc being a consistent top choice for business-class customers. The airline has recently been working with Havelock North vineyard Craggy Range, whose sav has been incredibly popular with international travellers.
And the experience doesn’t stop there, with the airline now employing more than 120 air sommeliers, prioritising the wine experience for customers. The onboard wine experts are there to help customers perfectly pair their wine choice with their meal, something that the airline says is essential to the customer experience.
Sustainability is important too, as is considering waste - if you have ever been attempting to drift off to sleep when a hostess encourages you to fill that cup one more time, it turns out it all comes back to the airline’s commitment to reducing waste. If you don’t drink that open bottle, it - and all that it took to get it there - is going down the drain.
The airline also factors in future changes to the climate in the wine regions they source from, and how that may change the taste of the wine and their ability to source. The process, like the wine, is ever-evolving.
So next time you’re sitting in that leather aeroplane seat and eyeing up the drinks cart, stop for a second to consider the years of planning, sourcing and testing that went into getting that bottle on that cart - and savour every drop.
Jenni Mortimer is the New Zealand Herald’s lifestyle and travel audience editor. Jenni started at the Herald in 2017 and previously worked as an education publication editor. She’s also the host of The Herald’s parenting podcast One Day You’ll Thank Me, mum to Knox and self-confessed wine amateur.
