Why Air Canada wine is globally sourced
#31
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: YVR
Programs: Bottom feeder Star Gold
Posts: 2,652
Carbonated water - the pinnacle of ripoff products. The only thing more ridiculous than a wine snob is a gassy water snob.
#33
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: YVR
Programs: Air Canada Super Elite 2+ Million Miles
Posts: 2,478
The answer may be found within AC's own corporate responsibility page: "Air Canada needs the communities where it operates and where its employees, customers and other stakeholders live and work to be healthy, financially strong and dynamic." A preference for Canadian products - within fiscal reason - might include not just wine, but anything the airline sources to maintain its operations.
Carbonated water - the pinnacle of ripoff products. The only thing more ridiculous than a wine snob is a gassy water snob.
Carbonated water - the pinnacle of ripoff products. The only thing more ridiculous than a wine snob is a gassy water snob.
Talk about being a misguided neighbourhood snob - AC flies Boeing & Airbus (and soon the A220 partly made in Northern Ireland), purchases fuel around the world, with much of the fuel for Eastern Canadian operations is imported, while plenty of other sourcing such as ground equipment, etc is sourced globally too. Wine is just another product that even when the grapes comes from Cdn sources and processed on Cdn soil, plenty of the equipment and know-how comes from everywhere else.
https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/nrg/ntgrtd...lmprt-eng.html
Of course I live in the real world of global supply chains - but possibly folks should lobby Ottawa to protect the Cdn wine industry by forcing federally regulated airlines to ONLY buy from Cdn sources too? Oh yeah, that policy would be contrary to NAFTA and I still can remember all the whining back then when the Cdn wineries complained that NAFTA would destroy their industry, but it would appear that competition has caused Cdn wineries to step up their game.
ps...wine is between 80-85% water, and the carbonated kind is called sparkling wine...
#35
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Canada
Programs: *G
Posts: 2,304
Why wine tastes different in the sky (and how to choose the right one)
https://www.goodfood.com.au/drinks/w...0180815-h140r5
Two theories - one is obvious (drier air affecting your smell and hence taste) but the other theory gets back to an old theory about how a wine "travels".
"We give the wine samples a good eight to nine hours on a plane, and then we can assess how they've stood up to the trip."
I am not sure how sound that theory is, but it raises the question of how AC samples its wines - with or without being flight tested.
Two theories - one is obvious (drier air affecting your smell and hence taste) but the other theory gets back to an old theory about how a wine "travels".
"We give the wine samples a good eight to nine hours on a plane, and then we can assess how they've stood up to the trip."
I am not sure how sound that theory is, but it raises the question of how AC samples its wines - with or without being flight tested.
#36
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: YYC
Posts: 23,741
https://www.goodfood.com.au/drinks/w...0180815-h140r5
Two theories - one is obvious (drier air affecting your smell and hence taste) but the other theory gets back to an old theory about how a wine "travels".
"We give the wine samples a good eight to nine hours on a plane, and then we can assess how they've stood up to the trip."
I am not sure how sound that theory is, but it raises the question of how AC samples its wines - with or without being flight tested.
Two theories - one is obvious (drier air affecting your smell and hence taste) but the other theory gets back to an old theory about how a wine "travels".
"We give the wine samples a good eight to nine hours on a plane, and then we can assess how they've stood up to the trip."
I am not sure how sound that theory is, but it raises the question of how AC samples its wines - with or without being flight tested.
Coming back to AC's wine, however, my impression is that they have improved somewhat. May be because the current sommelier favors the stly we like more than the previous guy, who was Australian-trained and surely preferred young heavy fruity wines. That is given that cheap heavy fruity wines are invariably poor, given that the technique to obtain that result on the cheap is just to delay picking up the grapes so sugar and fruit increase, at the cost of off flavors also increasing.
But it may also be the case that her budget has gone up a bit. Anyway, on domestic routes they currently have an Australian cabernet sauvignon that's OK. Even though admittedly I am not a great fan of low end Australian stuff. (As they say, Australian wine businesses, which are in the hands of very few large outfits, have good chemists... And they know how to price things.)
Likewise the Tuscan red served on overseas routes is reasonably OK.
Still they have better stuff in the EVA lounge at TPE.
#37
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: YVR
Programs: Bottom feeder Star Gold
Posts: 2,652
@CZAMFlyer
Talk about being a misguided neighbourhood snob - AC flies Boeing & Airbus (and soon the A220 partly made in Northern Ireland), purchases fuel around the world, with much of the fuel for Eastern Canadian operations is imported, while plenty of other sourcing such as ground equipment, etc is sourced globally too. Wine is just another product that even when the grapes comes from Cdn sources and processed on Cdn soil, plenty of the equipment and know-how comes from everywhere else.
https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/nrg/ntgrtd...lmprt-eng.html
Of course I live in the real world of global supply chains - but possibly folks should lobby Ottawa to protect the Cdn wine industry by forcing federally regulated airlines to ONLY buy from Cdn sources too? Oh yeah, that policy would be contrary to NAFTA and I still can remember all the whining back then when the Cdn wineries complained that NAFTA would destroy their industry, but it would appear that competition has caused Cdn wineries to step up their game.
ps...wine is between 80-85% water, and the carbonated kind is called sparkling wine...
Talk about being a misguided neighbourhood snob - AC flies Boeing & Airbus (and soon the A220 partly made in Northern Ireland), purchases fuel around the world, with much of the fuel for Eastern Canadian operations is imported, while plenty of other sourcing such as ground equipment, etc is sourced globally too. Wine is just another product that even when the grapes comes from Cdn sources and processed on Cdn soil, plenty of the equipment and know-how comes from everywhere else.
https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/nrg/ntgrtd...lmprt-eng.html
Of course I live in the real world of global supply chains - but possibly folks should lobby Ottawa to protect the Cdn wine industry by forcing federally regulated airlines to ONLY buy from Cdn sources too? Oh yeah, that policy would be contrary to NAFTA and I still can remember all the whining back then when the Cdn wineries complained that NAFTA would destroy their industry, but it would appear that competition has caused Cdn wineries to step up their game.
ps...wine is between 80-85% water, and the carbonated kind is called sparkling wine...
#38
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: AC SE100K-1MM, NH, DL, AA, BA, Global Entry/Nexus, APEC..
Posts: 18,877
Anyway, except for the nice Old Soul red that AC served a few years back, too many of the rest of the lot made me sick, so I just do bubbles on TPAC/TATLs and whatever if anything or nothing on North American flights.
BTW, in the various food threads, there has been more than one discussion in recent years about the "quality" of AC wines served onboard. Similar suggestions were offered. I really like the Burrowing Owl Merlot - which other than at Fairmonts - is almost impossible to get outside of B.C. And, I also posted a link to my NZ flights with the wines they served and I loved that they offer excellent NZ wines.
carry-on......
BTW, in the various food threads, there has been more than one discussion in recent years about the "quality" of AC wines served onboard. Similar suggestions were offered. I really like the Burrowing Owl Merlot - which other than at Fairmonts - is almost impossible to get outside of B.C. And, I also posted a link to my NZ flights with the wines they served and I loved that they offer excellent NZ wines.
carry-on......
Last edited by tcook052; Sep 26, 2018 at 11:58 am Reason: off topic
#39
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2002
Location: YEG
Programs: HH Silver
Posts: 56,417
As there is already a dedicated AC Kit Kat thread within this forum some off topic posts in this thread on that matter have been deleted so let's please stick to a discussion of wines on AC.
tcook052
AC forum mod.
tcook052
AC forum mod.
#42
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: YYC
Posts: 23,741
#43
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: YVR
Programs: Air Canada Super Elite 2+ Million Miles
Posts: 2,478
Horror - AC 007 to HKG today Sept 26 - SD advises as passing out the menu low on Spanish Wines - only one bottle.
Obviously AC must be reading this Thread and getting rid of the inferior Spanish chuck.
ps...not particularly environmentally relevant to carry around empty glass wine bottles - maybe AC should switch to bio-degradable plastic pouches 😜
Obviously AC must be reading this Thread and getting rid of the inferior Spanish chuck.
ps...not particularly environmentally relevant to carry around empty glass wine bottles - maybe AC should switch to bio-degradable plastic pouches 😜
#44
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: YYZ
Programs: TK *G
Posts: 3,055
#45
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: YVR
Programs: Air Canada Super Elite 2+ Million Miles
Posts: 2,478
@ songsc
well assuming a more practical idea like the relief tubes of old (sorry to female pilots of the era), yesterday flew AC 007 from YVR to HKG and the map showed close flying to Kamchatka Peninsula.
Curious Russian response to empty wine bottles hurdling to ground at terminal velocity of around 200 kph and striking their Air Force bases - definitely reason for AC to stop using Canadian wine if label were to survive impact.
Sadly We dont need another KE 007, so AC will need a better solution- with all due respect to your creative suggestion 😀
well assuming a more practical idea like the relief tubes of old (sorry to female pilots of the era), yesterday flew AC 007 from YVR to HKG and the map showed close flying to Kamchatka Peninsula.
Curious Russian response to empty wine bottles hurdling to ground at terminal velocity of around 200 kph and striking their Air Force bases - definitely reason for AC to stop using Canadian wine if label were to survive impact.
Sadly We dont need another KE 007, so AC will need a better solution- with all due respect to your creative suggestion 😀