A Drop In The Sky

When you fly up in the pointy end, airlines have a lot to answer for when they don’t deliver to expectations. Passengers who shell out significant funds for an indulgent experience know the drill. The basics are not that complicated. The absolutes are extra comfortable larger seats that convert to flat beds, significant space, personal, highly professional service, delicious, as close to restaurant-quality meals as possible, and for many, the icing on the cake, and certainly for me, the true test of a carriers care and worth in Business or First – the wine selection.

Many airlines wax lyrical about the attention they put into their wine lists, choosing wines that match the food and provide the most palatable options suitable at altitude. But the truth is that very few really curate their lists carefully anymore. I have been vastly disappointed by the wines available on many of the very best carriers, with only a few exceptions. So much so, that when an airline truly gets it right, I hold them at the highest esteem.

I look at poor wine choices on an airline as pure laziness. Pointy end travellers expect excellent wines of top quality and reputation. A mix of great labels with pedigree as well as new superstars in the making. A variety across the board, where you can mix and match suitably with your multi-course meal.

This article stems from a superb (and somewhat unexpected) experience I have recently had on one of the world’s best airlines. This led me to think about how dramatically different this was to any flights with the national carrier of my own country.

As an Australian, a study of Qantas, then and now, is warranted. Over a decade ago when the travel bug hit me hard and I began to chase status to a ridiculous degree, it was a time when Qantas was in heavy promotion mode over its food and wine offerings. It was an impressive time to fly them then, they had great attention to detail with their wine selections.

It was a time when Qantas was becoming very profitable. CEO Alan Joyce had just been appointed and soon turned the airline into an International juggernaut. There was a new found sense of pride in the airline from both company employees and the nation as a whole. 

Knowing the world was paying attention to Australia’s exceedingly excellent boutique wines, Qantas went out all stops to make these wines a massive part of the flying experience up the front of the plane. I remember one of my first Business Class experiences at this time, and the presentation of a multi-page booklet outlining the vast choices available when flying with Qantas, all wines having a separate and distinct description, whetting one’s palate for what lay ahead on long haul flights out of the country.

Usually there were around 6-8 of these wines available on board. It was random what would be available on each flight, but you could be sure that some very exclusive (and expensive) drops would be amongst them. When it came time to choose from that selection, it was great to read about the wine in the brochure. But the clincher was that the Qantas on-board attendants had a basic but assured knowledge about the wines, just enough to give you a sense of the special wine you were about to enjoy. All with Australian pride.

In ensuing years, the Qantas wine selection became the envy of many airlines, winning the prestigious Cellars In The Sky awards several times. The food was also carefully considered, excellent modern Australian cuisine with famous Australian chef Neil Perry the airlines ambassador and pride and joy.

I have had many very fine wines on Qantas over a ten year period. I’m not sure exactly when it all changed for the worse, but it was some time ago now. I began to realise this in stages. In the first instance, that brochure disappeared, never again to be seen. It was a time when Qantas was losing profit and cost cutting measures were becoming obvious in all facets of the airlines operation. Airline attendants got surlier and ever more disinterested.

When it came to the wine, it didn’t take long to get to the point when cabin attendants had no clue about what wines were loaded on board until they began the meal service. In a couple of instances I recall, when I asked about the wine, I received a confused look and a quick grab of the bottle and then told there was a Riesling or a Chardonnay available. When I asked what they were, there was a closer examination of the bottles by the flustered attendant to try and work out what the hell they were. I would ask “What is the winemaker?”, “Where is that from?”. “What vintage is it?” They would stare at me (for longer than necessary) and then try and find the information on the bottle.

Many people know about wines. Many know a lot. These are not unreasonable questions. They are actually quite basic – and expected.

It hasn’t improved over the years, if anything it’s far worse. Over all the flights I’ve had with Qantas, I can tell you now that you will get only a handful of labels, usually good Australian stalwarts, but certainly nothing really outstanding. There is also no way that any consideration is given to these wines matching the food. No way.

You can almost guarantee with the whites, there will be a Sauvignon Blanc (probably Shaw & Smith), a Chardonnay (something from Margaret River, but certainly NOT one of the top estates) and quite often, a Riesling (usually Grosset, something mid-range, of course) 

In the red department, you can always expect a Shiraz (of course! It’s the country’s top drop) and a Cabernet Sauvignon, both of which will be a mid-range wine in quality and cost. But why these two bigger styles of wine as the only choices?

Lately I have been baffled by the absence of Pinot Noir onboard Qantas. I have read many articles that these are amongst the very best to have at altitude. Why Cabernet? These are big wines that supposedly don’t work so well on one’s palate way up in the sky. Pinot Noir, moderate to great ones to be sure, are more expensive. I imagine that is the main reason Qantas doesn’t carry them.

This is quite a sad state of affairs. Qantas is one of the most expensive airlines in the world to fly. How Business Class flyers put up with cheaper, average wines coupled with a vast reduction in food quality, and particularly the presentation, is beyond me. Then, Australians are known to put up with a lot and not to complain. But there is a growing army fed up with what Qantas gets away with.

First Class, of course, is quite a different story and appears to still have that edge that disappeared from the Business cabin all those years go. For only the very privileged few, Qantas would never get away with mediocre offerings in that exalted cabin. 

So, this leads me to the experiences I have just had that could not be more opposite…

Qatar Airways has been voted the World’s Best Airline and I have just had my first flights with them. Every element deserves the highest praise, but I won’t stray from what this article is about. Let me talk about the vino.

Firstly, the outstanding food selections have been so well thought out, the quality of the meals right up there with the best I have ever had on an airline. The wines, superb right across the board. And superlative matches.

There is a Wine Menu on board, in your seat and ready to explore pre take-off. A small concise selection, 2 Champagnes (one brut, one rosé), 4 or 5 whites, a rosé, and 4 or 5 reds. International wines from far and wide. All mid – top estates. And yes, a lovely Burgundy is there. The Pinot Noir grape gets its chance to shine. Many boutique wineries are represented. All makers have had some acclaim. All are absolutely worthy. Each available choice has a photograph of the bottle and a thorough description to help you make your choice. 

Now, here are the two clinchers. One, for me, is expected. The other was a complete surprise. I would have tried perhaps 5 of the wine choices on my long 14.5 hour flight from Sydney to Doha. All of them, were excellent matches with the food.

The surprise? The excellent cabin attendants, all highly professional and personable, knew about each and every one of the wines on board. Not extensive knowledge, but that isn’t necessary. They knew enough to help guide my choice, steer my direction in relation to my meal. They knew side stories about the wines, enough to intrigue and pique my curiosity. Told in a casual, friendly manner. Short, concise knowledge. I found this beguiling and completely refreshing.

Qantas used to be like this. Many other airlines did too. When you fork out thousands to fly in Business (or use an increasingly ridiculous number of your hard-earned points) all of this should be de rigueur. The flying experiences in relation to food and wine onboard Qantas and Qatar are like chalk and cheese. And again, I say this is of prime importance for me as a Business passenger. I know I am not alone. It is very important to be treated as special as one of the airlines premier flyers.

Travelling in premier cabins is akin to staying in a five-star hotel. Service, comfort, food and wine should be on par with those experiences. There is simply no excuse to under-deliver.

As more and more of the world understand and increase their fascination and knowledge in the world of wine, the airlines have to lift their game. Flying is only becoming more expensive. The offering on board just cannot keep going in the opposite direction. I praise Qatar for my four recent flights with them. They really were faultless. And the food and wine department, excellence par none. Wine lovers can rejoice that somewhere out there, in the lucrative skies, is a team that know their stuff. They care and make sure everything is as perfect as it can be at 39,000 feet. Keep this up and I will remain loyal and cherish the experience that premier class travel should always be.