The Best and Worst of AC's Alcohol Offerings
Jan 14, 2011, 8:44 am
#47
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 13,573
Blody Mary's are normally made with tomato juice, tabasco, salt and pepper to taste. I really quite like them, but often really struggle to find them in Canada due to the omnipresence of Clamato (I mean, really, who even thought to put clam juice in a drink???)
Best for me is a bailey's (or 3) over ice, that I sip as I watch a movie after dinner. It is the only time I drink the stuff, so quite enjoy it (and it is hard to screw it up
I am a red wine and champagne girl at heart). I had a bearable red a few months back, but it wasn't one I have seen before or since and didn't register what it was.
Best for me is a bailey's (or 3) over ice, that I sip as I watch a movie after dinner. It is the only time I drink the stuff, so quite enjoy it (and it is hard to screw it up
I am a red wine and champagne girl at heart). I had a bearable red a few months back, but it wasn't one I have seen before or since and didn't register what it was.
Jan 14, 2011, 9:21 am
#48
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: YQR
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Posts: 561
I guess I don't fly enough to be so picky about in-flight drinks. 4-6 overseas flights (round trip) per year. I can certainly say that Delta has better offerings on transatlantic for wine.
Jan 14, 2011, 9:35 am
#49
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: VCE
Posts: 14,165
I find the wine offerings on LX to be the best transatlantic, and UA to be the very worst.
Jan 14, 2011, 10:23 am
#50
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: Too many golds, no plat: OZ*G, AC*G, NZ*G, VA Gold, QF Gold, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 5,367
BEST: The Drappier - it's far from great, it just outshines the rest of the AWFUL wine selection.
I also like the Perrier, and the bombay sapphire gin is good, however the Canada Dry tonic is horrendous and ruins the whole effect.
I usually find a just-about-acceptable red in longhaul J (especially if I've already numbed my palate with some champagne and some pre-flight lounge drinking).
WORST: almost all the white wines I've ever drunk on AC, in any class (notable exception being the glorious but sadly never repeated flight in J on SYD-YVR, when they had a delicious Marlborough sauvignon blanc as a 'secret wine' or whatever it's called). Plus ANY wine I've EVER drunk in a MLL - these are uniformly awful.
If AC is going to maintain the pretence that they have a premium product that people actually pay for (unlike the US airlines - and yes, UA does serve the very worst), they should really take a leaf out of NZ's book when it comes to wine:
1) Offer more choice. Just a choice of 2 reds and 2 whites plus champagne is pathetic for longhaul J in a large aircraft. NZ usually had double that amount of choice for a 3 hour shorthaul flight with 8 J seats! (Sadly, as of November last year, J is gone on those planes but their wine selection remains excellent and varied on their widebodies.)
2) Increase the per-bottle budget by at least 50%
3) Do some smart partnering with wine producers - do some promos to give good producers some exposure, turning the wine into a positive feature that actually exceeds your customers' expectations. If done smartly the wine producers will meet some of the cost of this, as they will build profile with an affluent target market.
4) Recognize that if you're going to make noises about featuring your own country's wines, you'd better feature good ones or you're actually going to damage people's perceptions of the region you're supposedly acting as an ambassador for. AC has pretty much turned me against Canadian wine in this way.
5) Have a dessert wine option. Many of us don't care for port.
6) Don't forget about the lounges! The plonk in there is almost undrinkable.
7) FIRE KEN CHASE!
I also like the Perrier, and the bombay sapphire gin is good, however the Canada Dry tonic is horrendous and ruins the whole effect.
I usually find a just-about-acceptable red in longhaul J (especially if I've already numbed my palate with some champagne and some pre-flight lounge drinking).
WORST: almost all the white wines I've ever drunk on AC, in any class (notable exception being the glorious but sadly never repeated flight in J on SYD-YVR, when they had a delicious Marlborough sauvignon blanc as a 'secret wine' or whatever it's called). Plus ANY wine I've EVER drunk in a MLL - these are uniformly awful.
If AC is going to maintain the pretence that they have a premium product that people actually pay for (unlike the US airlines - and yes, UA does serve the very worst), they should really take a leaf out of NZ's book when it comes to wine:
1) Offer more choice. Just a choice of 2 reds and 2 whites plus champagne is pathetic for longhaul J in a large aircraft. NZ usually had double that amount of choice for a 3 hour shorthaul flight with 8 J seats! (Sadly, as of November last year, J is gone on those planes but their wine selection remains excellent and varied on their widebodies.)
2) Increase the per-bottle budget by at least 50%
3) Do some smart partnering with wine producers - do some promos to give good producers some exposure, turning the wine into a positive feature that actually exceeds your customers' expectations. If done smartly the wine producers will meet some of the cost of this, as they will build profile with an affluent target market.
4) Recognize that if you're going to make noises about featuring your own country's wines, you'd better feature good ones or you're actually going to damage people's perceptions of the region you're supposedly acting as an ambassador for. AC has pretty much turned me against Canadian wine in this way.
5) Have a dessert wine option. Many of us don't care for port.
6) Don't forget about the lounges! The plonk in there is almost undrinkable.
7) FIRE KEN CHASE!
Jan 14, 2011, 11:18 am
#52
Join Date: May 2006
Location: MYF/CMA/SAN/YYZ/YKF
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Then again, I think my girlfriend would appreciate Creemore on draft or in a bottle in the MLL or on-board.
2) As many good, reasonably priced Canadian wines as there are, you would think AC could rectify this.
A Bloody Mary is traditionally made with straight tomato juice, not V8.
Jan 14, 2011, 1:20 pm
#53
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: YVR
Programs: AC*P, SPG
Posts: 290
Have to agree with the majority here saying that the Drappier is the best of a mostly mediocre selection.
In Y, after one terrible decision made one fateful flight last year, I have resolved never to drink any of the wines again. I'll stick to cans of Heineken and mixed drinks (rum/coke, gin/tonic, rye/ginger).
In the MLL, it's Glenlivet for me.
In Y, after one terrible decision made one fateful flight last year, I have resolved never to drink any of the wines again. I'll stick to cans of Heineken and mixed drinks (rum/coke, gin/tonic, rye/ginger).
In the MLL, it's Glenlivet for me.
Jan 14, 2011, 2:33 pm
#55
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: 60% YYZ 40% RSW
Programs: ACMM, AC E50K, HH Gold, National EE
Posts: 293
Bombay Sapphire on board is a tasty treat. As for the wine, it may not be spectacular but if you drink enough it won't matter. We had an impromptu cocktail party on one of the old A340's YYZ-HKG a few years back. Several of us in the same industry stood in the mid galley for probably 2 hours swapping stories and drained a fair bit of the red (can't recall what it was for obvious reasons). The FA's would just walk by and shake their heads...
Jan 14, 2011, 3:16 pm
#56
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Earth
Programs: AC S100K (formerly AC*SE), AC 2MM, AMEX Plat, Marriott Platinum Elite
Posts: 1,469
This is good info as it too becomes non-vegetarian.
Jan 14, 2011, 7:31 pm
#58
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Closer to YTZ
Programs: Fairmont Platinum | AC Gate Lice Status | VIPorter
Posts: 2,554
Shocking!! The silver bullet claims another beerey fatality.
Ah got it. BTW the clam juice would also render it un-kosher, if I recall.
Ah got it. BTW the clam juice would also render it un-kosher, if I recall.
Jan 15, 2011, 11:43 am
#59
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: YYC
Posts: 4,035
I didn't say it was my favourite champagne, but it easily beats anything else they offer on board.
For those sparkling wine lovers amount us, I'd recommend checking out L'Acadie Vineyards in NS. Had their 2006 Brut over Christmas as part of a multi-day tasting (popped a new bottle at 9am every morning) and I was pleasantly surprised.
For those sparkling wine lovers amount us, I'd recommend checking out L'Acadie Vineyards in NS. Had their 2006 Brut over Christmas as part of a multi-day tasting (popped a new bottle at 9am every morning) and I was pleasantly surprised.
Jan 15, 2011, 1:20 pm
#60
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Earth
Programs: AC S100K (formerly AC*SE), AC 2MM, AMEX Plat, Marriott Platinum Elite
Posts: 1,469
I didn't say it was my favourite champagne, but it easily beats anything else they offer on board.
For those sparkling wine lovers amount us, I'd recommend checking out L'Acadie Vineyards in NS. Had their 2006 Brut over Christmas as part of a multi-day tasting (popped a new bottle at 9am every morning) and I was pleasantly surprised.
For those sparkling wine lovers amount us, I'd recommend checking out L'Acadie Vineyards in NS. Had their 2006 Brut over Christmas as part of a multi-day tasting (popped a new bottle at 9am every morning) and I was pleasantly surprised.