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Why Air Canada wine is globally sourced

Why Air Canada wine is globally sourced

Old Feb 10, 2019, 4:50 pm
  #61  
 
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Originally Posted by j2simpso
Is there a difference in the what's stocked between Y and PY? What about PY and J?
Y and PY are catered from the same drink cart. As pointed out above the wine is plonk. This article says they want to improve the economy experience, how about sourcing something drinkable. Fortunately I can get sleepy from the wine in the lounge, which while not great is better than what is served in Y and PY ;-)

Obviously J will have several bottles of white and red to choose from; this is true of TATL, TPAC and TCONs. Drinkability is all over the map IMO, but I am not up front that often.
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Old Feb 10, 2019, 5:51 pm
  #62  
 
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Originally Posted by RatherBeInYOW
Y and PY are catered from the same drink cart.
Yikes! I was under the impression that PY drinks were slightly different than Y given how AC markets their service:
Complimentary wine and spirits as well as premium cuisine and a hot towel with every meal service on all international flights as well as on longer flights within North America
Originally Posted by RatherBeInYOW
Fortunately I can get sleepy from the wine in the lounge, which while not great is better than what is served in Y and PY ;-)
It's been a while since I've been in a MLL - how do the wines there fare to what's on board? Is it all Canadian or are there also international wines?! IIRC there was international spirits and beers (i.e. Guinness) the last time I was there! That being said I didn't see any Dom or Krug in the lounge (YUL TB), they must saving the nice stuff for the YYT MLL

Originally Posted by RatherBeInYOW
Drinkability is all over the map IMO, but I am not up front that often.
I sure hope you mean that in the literal sense and not the figurative sense
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 1:22 pm
  #63  
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Originally Posted by RatherBeInYOW
Y and PY are catered from the same drink cart. As pointed out above the wine is plonk. This article says they want to improve the economy experience, how about sourcing something drinkable. Fortunately I can get sleepy from the wine in the lounge, which while not great is better than what is served in Y and PY ;-).....
Just reading this quote and it reminded me of your post

" In short haul economy, most airlines dont offer any free booze at all, and on long haul premium or economy, many of the wines do a wonderful double act as advanced paint thinner in their free time. This brings the big question.."

LOL

Does anyone know if this is allowed on AC?

https://www.godsavethepoints.com/201...ine-on-planes/
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 2:05 pm
  #64  
 
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Corkage on AC?

That seems unlikely.

Don't they (or Transport Canada) have rules on alcohol not purchased on board?
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 2:23 pm
  #65  
 
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Per the CATSA website:

"You can carry up to a maximum of 5 L of alcoholic beverages containing between 24 and 70 percent alcohol by volume in retail packaging by air. There are no restrictions on alcoholic beverages containing 24 percent alcohol or less."

However per AC:

"You cannot consume your own alcoholic beverages on board."
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 2:41 pm
  #66  
 
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Originally Posted by marchelli
Per the CATSA website:

"You can carry up to a maximum of 5 L of alcoholic beverages containing between 24 and 70 percent alcohol by volume in retail packaging by air. There are no restrictions on alcoholic beverages containing 24 percent alcohol or less."

However per AC:

"You cannot consume your own alcoholic beverages on board."
I'd be curious to see how flexible AC is on that policy. For instance, suppose a couple is celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and bring a bottle of Krug on board. Do you honestly think the FA is going to say, "No you can't have it!"

-James
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 5:10 pm
  #67  
 
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Originally Posted by j2simpso
It's been a while since I've been in a MLL - how do the wines there fare to what's on board? Is it all Canadian or are there also international wines?! IIRC there was international spirits and beers (i.e. Guinness) the last time I was there! That being said I didn't see any Dom or Krug in the lounge (YUL TB), they must saving the nice stuff for the YYT MLL
Last week in the YOW MLL the beer taps were down and they were out of Vodka too.

Anyway, the MLL wine is usually what I would call extended family visit wine. The stuff you buy at the LCBO that is drinkable, but is not the good stuff that you want your extended family consuming all of...
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 7:07 pm
  #68  
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Originally Posted by RatherBeInYOW
Anyway, the MLL wine is usually what I would call extended family visit wine. The stuff you buy at the LCBO that is drinkable, but is not the good stuff that you want your extended family consuming all of...


In that case the MLL wines are actually better than I thought. I always thought there was only undrinkable plonk.
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 7:28 pm
  #69  
 
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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.
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 8:04 pm
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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.
Exactly how I feel. The most recent round of wines on board are just horrendous. On a narrowbody this week I had a choice of two horrible Rieslings. The Henry of Pelham Riesling is sooooo much better. Two equivalently horrible Spanish reds.

I will take the little bottles of plonk. And that is saying something.
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 8:35 pm
  #71  
 
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Originally Posted by Cozmo456
Exactly how I feel. The most recent round of wines on board are just horrendous. On a narrowbody this week I had a choice of two horrible Rieslings. The Henry of Pelham Riesling is sooooo much better. Two equivalently horrible Spanish reds.

I will take the little bottles of plonk. And that is saying something.
I love Riesling!
We make some amazing Riesling here in Canada! (shout out to Leaning Post, Cave Spring, Fielding and Charles Baker) There's so much made that it would be fairly easy to get even if it's just mid range. No one is realistically expecting Pearl Morrissette Black Ball Riesling.

PS - I also hear Tantalus in BC makes a good Riesling as well although I've not tried it myself.
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 10:37 pm
  #72  
 
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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
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Old Feb 12, 2019, 8:14 am
  #73  
 
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@iceblueshoes I think that Pearl Morrissette is outside their price range and PM may not be handle to volume needed.

Tantalus is great. I had some out west two weeks ago.

My comment about the Rieslings was the absolute bad quality of Rieslings served. These are $7 bottles.
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Old Feb 12, 2019, 8:43 am
  #74  
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Originally Posted by Cozmo456
Exactly how I feel. The most recent round of wines on board are just horrendous. On a narrowbody this week I had a choice of two horrible Rieslings. The Henry of Pelham Riesling is sooooo much better. Two equivalently horrible Spanish reds.
The wines on board are definitely not as bad as in the lounge. With a couple of occasional exceptions, I would not buy them nor drink them at home on an everyday basis, or serve to guests.
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Old Feb 12, 2019, 4:12 pm
  #75  
 
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Originally Posted by j2simpso
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
For economy, I'd have to say it's almost certainly beyond what AC is willing to pay. From what I've seen most of the wines (Paul Mas) are from southern France (Languedoc region) which are known for bulk wine production more than quality. There is quality wine from there, but it's not going to be cheap. Bottega is low end prosecco (sparkling). That's why it's often used to make mimosa's and bellini's. But hey, to the general public, sparkles = champagne, which is not the case. Sparkles also = pop...

The reality is that Canada makes little wine in terms of global numbers. Part of it, is lack of vineyard acreage planted and the higher cost of labour. We're also a young wine growing region, even younger when it comes to growing real noble grapes (vitis vinifera) and not the baby duck junk.
Another factor (not to do with price so much) is that we as Canadians have a hard time supporting our own, until we have "acceptance" by others. This isn't exclusive to wines, but for MANY industries.

$30 gets you a great Canadian sparkling wine, $30 won't even get you Champagne here (yes, I know taxes), but with the quality of our sparkling getting better and better, who cares? And yes I love Champagne. Nice region, Excellent wines. Go to $50 and you're getting notes that start to rival vintage Champagne at a 1/3 of the price. Benjamin Bridge and Henry of Pelham's Cuvee Catherine Carte Blanche immediately come to mind.
Maybe I should do a trip report about my trip there in Oct...
Originally Posted by Cozmo456
@iceblueshoes I think that Pearl Morrissette is outside their price range and PM may not be handle to volume needed.

Tantalus is great. I had some out west two weeks ago.

My comment about the Rieslings was the absolute bad quality of Rieslings served. These are $7 bottles.
I'd not expect AC (or any airline) to serve PM, I merely meant it as an example of an excellent Canadian wine. I do agree that they likely wouldn't be able to provide the #'s needed even if they increased the budget.

But there are other wineries that offer mid to higher range offerings with higher production #'s. Start small with just a few routes and/or select locations. Then go from there.
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