Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > Air Canada | Aeroplan
Reload this Page >

Why Air Canada wine is globally sourced

Why Air Canada wine is globally sourced

Old Sep 21, 2018, 10:19 pm
  #31  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: YVR
Programs: Bottom feeder Star Gold
Posts: 2,652
Originally Posted by skybluesea
So why would AC source locally, when it is supposed to be a global carrier with increasing global customer base?
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.
Originally Posted by skybluesea
my favourite restaurant in Rome, the Cavalieri in the HIlton has a menu just for sparkling water - 15 at last count - and most cost more than the $15 Cdn wine referred to above
Carbonated water - the pinnacle of ripoff products. The only thing more ridiculous than a wine snob is a gassy water snob.
trooper likes this.
CZAMFlyer is offline  
Old Sep 22, 2018, 2:12 am
  #32  
Original Member
 
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 6,220
Originally Posted by CZAMFlyer
I never did understand the mass appeal of champagne.
.
I never did understand the mass appeal (bordering obsession) of flavoured liquid narcotics.
KenHamer is offline  
Old Sep 22, 2018, 7:56 am
  #33  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: YVR
Programs: Air Canada Super Elite 2+ Million Miles
Posts: 2,478
Originally Posted by CZAMFlyer
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.
@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...
skybluesea is offline  
Old Sep 22, 2018, 10:00 am
  #34  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Halifax
Programs: AC SE100K, Marriott Lifetime Platinum Elite. NEXUS
Posts: 4,527
how about some:

or
RangerNS is offline  
Old Sep 25, 2018, 7:46 pm
  #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.
fin 645 is offline  
Old Sep 25, 2018, 8:20 pm
  #36  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: YYC
Posts: 23,741
Originally Posted by fin 645
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.
I am sure the story is true. However sitting for eight hours on a plane is not going to make a bad wine any better.

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.
Stranger is online now  
Old Sep 26, 2018, 9:16 am
  #37  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: YVR
Programs: Bottom feeder Star Gold
Posts: 2,652
Originally Posted by skybluesea
@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...
I'm not suggesting Air Canada limit its global supply of goods & services. I'm advocating the support and promotion of local products and businesses where feasible. It's not protectionism as much as community spirit.
CZAMFlyer is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2018, 10:13 am
  #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......

Last edited by tcook052; Sep 26, 2018 at 11:58 am Reason: off topic
24left is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2018, 12:01 pm
  #39  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: YEG
Programs: HH Silver
Posts: 56,417
Exclamation

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 is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2018, 12:43 pm
  #40  
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: YXY
Posts: 3,504
How much of the "Canadian" wines are actually 100% Canadian grapes?

I see bottles that say something like "with Canadian and other grapes".
skybluesea likes this.
sokolov is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2018, 12:58 pm
  #41  
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: YYZ
Programs: TK *G
Posts: 3,055
Speaking of buying locally, it is good for environmental efficiency, but probably not good for economical efficiency.
songsc is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2018, 2:08 pm
  #42  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: YYC
Posts: 23,741
Originally Posted by sokolov
How much of the "Canadian" wines are actually 100% Canadian grapes?

I see bottles that say something like "with Canadian and other grapes".
VQAs should be Canadian. Remainder is mostly from Chile apparently. Bottled in Canada. I would not touch these.
Stranger is online now  
Old Sep 26, 2018, 2:15 pm
  #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 😜
skybluesea is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2018, 2:49 pm
  #44  
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: YYZ
Programs: TK *G
Posts: 3,055
Originally Posted by skybluesea
ps...not particularly environmentally relevant to carry around empty glass wine bottles - maybe AC should switch to bio-degradable plastic pouches 😜
Just open the door mid air and throw that empty bottle out.
longtimeflyin likes this.
songsc is offline  
Old Sep 27, 2018, 10:01 pm
  #45  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: YVR
Programs: Air Canada Super Elite 2+ Million Miles
Posts: 2,478
Originally Posted by songsc
Just open the door mid air and throw that empty bottle out.
@ 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 😀
skybluesea is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.