Kiwi wine brand Invivo invited thirty guests on their inaugural flight.
Video / Invivo
On Tuesday, January 31, at around midday, the world’s first ‘winery airline’ took flight. Sarah Pollok describes what the 24-hour experience was like.
Some say you can judge how fancy a hotel is by how long it takes to get a glass of bubbles. If the same rule applies to airlines, I’m pleased to report it takes all of about two seconds when flying with Invivo Air, the world’s first ‘winery airline’.
Before I’ve even stepped both feet onto the 30-seater Saab jet (on loan from Air Chathams), I’m greeted by a warm ‘good morning’, a cold glass of Graham Norton-label prosecco and pointed towards my seat. By midday, after digging through a canvas tote of freebies and getting a safety briefing from Invvivo co-founder Rob Cameron, we take off.
What follows is approximately 27 hours dedicated to all things wine. We swirl it and sniff it, discuss it and, of course, drink it. As an all-inclusive sort of deal (for $1149 per person), my wisdom for future passengers is this: it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
By 1pm, after what I’m confident will be the best vegan plane meal I’ll ever eat (roast vegetable wrap with pumpkin salad and dairy-free fudge), the four-part wine tasting begins.
Guests are treated to Invivo's award winning drinks during the experience. Photo / Supplied
The first two glasses are a 2022 Sauvignon Blanc made in collaboration with Sarah Jessica Parker (an Invivo ambassador), and an Invivo Chardonnay. The first is delicious; fruity and a little sweet. Something I would never think to order at a restaurant or bar but certainly would now. Over the intercom, Cameron describes the second as ‘an easy expression of a chardonnay’ which was subtle, soft and creamy. I describe it as, pretty good.
As we cruise at 18,000ft, I chat to Tim Lightbourne, Invivo’s other co-founder about how they went from making wine to flying planes.
The idea came from a desire to celebrate the world opening up after lockdowns and gives a nod to the hospitality industry, which had done it tough through Covid.
“We thought, why don’t we hire a plane and why don’t we tell the world about this?” he said. Next minute, global media outlets like CNN were ringing and thousands had joined a waitlist for tickets.
The tasting ends with two final glasses; Invivo’s award-winning Rose (another SJP collab), and He-Devil, a big bold Argentinian Malbec made with the company’s other big-ticket ambassador, Graham Norton.
Wheels hit tarmac at 2.30pm and we were swiftly shepherded onto a bus to Legend’s Terrace in Central Otago, one of Invivo’s oldest vineyards. While we bring a heavy dose of rain down from Auckland, it’s hard to be too upset with a pinot noir in one hand, and gourmet pastries in the other.
Eventually, local viticulturist Tim “Timbo” Deaker, gives us an expert lesson on the area, and its wines. He talks about fruit sets and valley floor elevation, clay soil flavour profiles and gravity-fed wine as well as the history of Cromwell and the Central Otago vineyards. While much of the technical stuff goes over my head, it’s always a joy to hear someone speak with such passion about what they do.
Rob Cameron and Tim Deaker talk about Legend's Terrace and the wine made in the area. Photo / Supplied
As the afternoon pulls to a close, we head to The Hilton for a quick freshen-up in our lakeside rooms before driving to Botswana Butchery. A Queenstown icon, the restaurant isn’t typically open on Tuesday but for this special event, they open the doors to serve our group a banquet-style dinner.
The evening passes in a warm happy blur of clattering cutlery and animated conversation, heartfelt toasts, countless glasses of wine and more dishes than you can shake a steak knife at. We tuck into freshly shucked oysters and seared yellowfin tuna, slabs of Stewart Island salmon and slow-roasted lamb shoulder that melts off the bone.
Guests ended the night with an exclusive dinner at Botswana Butchery. Photo / Supplied
As the clock hits 11.30pm, dessert bites and cheese boards appear and despite collective exclamations that we ‘simply cannot eat another morsel’, they somehow disappear. Wise enough to skip end-of-the-night espresso martinis, my head hits the pillow and I’m asleep within seconds.
Wednesday morning is a little lazy (and for some, dusty), as we pack our bags, pass through the buffet and head to the airport for the 11am return flight.
Suitably wined out, many of us pass on another in-air wine tasting, but there are some determined troopers who take up the mimosas and chardonnays on offer.
With the inaugural flight done and dusted without a hitch, Lightbourne is excited to see where Invivo Air could fly next, with plans to consider domestic spots like Marlborough, Blenheim and Gisborne later this year.
