Originally Posted by
malbik
It seems to be generally though that taste buds don't work as well at cruising altitudes. It would be an interesting experiment to determine whether most can distinguish between a good wine and, say, two buck Chuck when served at cruising altitude.
(It's also pretty well established that opinions about wines are pretty strongly influenced by the labels).
I would take on that challenge.
To the OP original question.
Wine is not at the top of my pecking order but its not that far down either for long haul flights
1: Most direct flight and if a connection least length of layover
2: Quality of seat in business/first
3: Wine list
4: Menu
5: Cost
I do think their is often a direct correlation in the quality of the wine list to the quality of the menu, If i have to connect to get to my final destination in Europe, AirFrance goes to the top of my list for that reason.