Originally Posted by
iceblueshoes
I'll bite since I'm a sommelier.
Personally, I'd like to see AC show case Canadian wines in the lounges or maybe for a few routes, say top 10 most popular.
Doesn't have to be the entire selection, but maybe out of 6 wines, 1-2 are Canadian. By Canadian I mean VQA, none of this cellared in Canada plonk.
YVR/YYC based flights wines get BC wines, and YYZ/YUL could get ON wines.
I actually don't often have wine on board, because it's just plain bad and I'm usually travelling to a wine region.
Unfortunately, I doubt it'll change from low end wedding wine anytime soon, but do hope to be wrong.
If the wines weren't so damn overpriced in duty free, i'd have no shame popping open my own bottle. I actually travel with my own travel wine glasses.
Great to hear an expert's opinion on the matter. Out of curiosity, do Canadian wines cost more than globally sourced ones? In particular, can you get a decent Canadian wine at the kind of price points AC is paying? In other words, is AC even get the best available wine for the limited dollars they invest or are they just being lazy here? Perhaps we should keep track of the booze offered on board (incl cabin and routes) to get a better understanding of where "on the map" the various booze options are.
Looking at the on-board
menus I could find (fellow FTers please point out other wine options offered), the BoB options seemed to be a choice of a selection of Paul Mas wines, Bottega Gold for the sparkling wine along with a selection of "Premium wines". On the booze side it seems limited Moloson-Coors for the domestic and Heineken for the INTL with Mill Street and Granville Island being the hipster options. Spirits seems to be your usual bottom shelf options (Smirnoff, Canadian Club, Baileys, etc.)
As for myself, I'm not much of a wine person more of a gin n' tonic person. Sadly, AC no longer accepts my UA/CO drink coupons for redeeming those on flights so will need to stick with the reds. I'm somewhat curious why AC doesn't have a
Water Sommelier. I suspect there are many passengers with a discriminating palate towards the mouth feel and other characteristics of water (sparkling or still). At 38,000 feet a refreshing glass of the clear stuff can make all the difference!
Safe Travels,
James