tcook052

https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2018/0...clude-bubbles/

Though Air Canada has occasionally come under fire for sourcing wine from around the world instead of largely focusing on Canadian wine, the airline says there are good reasons for why it has embraced a diverse group of vintners.

Air Canada likes to offer a selection of roughly six wines in its international business class cabins, now called Signature Class. And it needs a minimum 3,000 cases of each wine (for a three-month cycle) to accommodate its wine-loving passengers at 35,000ft.

That’s a lot of wine, and certain smaller Canadian winemakers with unique offerings unfortunately cannot produce the volume required by Air Canada, explains company VP, products Andrew Yiu, pointing to the Canadian climate as inhibiting mass production in some instances.

“We can’t just say ‘we’ll buy 1,000 [cases] and if we need more we’ll come back’ because they might say ‘we are out of that’.”

yyznomad

Interesting... didn't realize bubbly was the most popular... but then again, I don't really drink wine/sparking wine/champagne.

Side note: Wish AY was still posting here.

alpinecow

"the airline says there are good reasons for why it has embraced a diverse group of vintners: because Canadian wines are terrible."

There, fixed the quote for you.

Cozmo456

Canadian wines win gold medals year after year in international competitions. But gallonage is an issue. I get it now.

Shareholder

I'd like Andrew to bring back CP's Kanata Coffee, at least to commentate the 20th anniversary of the merger. IIRC it has a maple syrup liqueur (with a rye whiskey base) and of course whipped cream.

Bohemian1

I duuno, other airlines find ways to highlight local product. Maybe they actually change the wines up more often or have a selection that varies more widely than simply six wines over different routes.

But I guess if the concern is about having a narrow list spread across a wide range of flights, then quantity will win out over quality. Makes the sommelier's life easier too.

yyznomad

Well, that certainly sounds quite nice.

Speaking of which, at the most recent YTZ/YYZ DO hosted by j2simpso, I gave @songsc some semi-old international menus from the mid-2000s. It would be interesting to see what else was served back then from a wine standpoint. I'll go rummaging through my menus now.

Admiral Ackbar

Completely false and laughable. Won't even bother giving you examples. Snob much?

james dean

exactly, maybe you should give some examples to shame them...haha

Cozmo456

People disparage Canadian wines because of experiences decades back. Or they do not know wine.

I take bottles to France and blow their minds on what a $15 bottle of wine is like here.

Bohemian1

Having just toured BC wine country to visit the vineyards I have been drinking from for all of these years, the quality is most certainly there and the industry is light years ahead of the infamous Moody Blue, Kelowna Red and Baby Duck days of old. That's the good news.

The bad news is that as the quality, diversity and popularity of our product goes up, so does the price, mostly due to restaurant buys both here and abroad.

As stated in the opening link, AC's decision is not due to a lack of quality, it is due to a lack of the quantities they feel they need to buy of single wines.

Jagboi

I suspect it all comes down to price. They can buy foreign wine in bulk cheaper than Canadian wine. Some of the BC reds are excellent, for example, but not cheap. Also as noted, smaller productions runs.

I remember seeing a TV show on the supply chains for the major UK supermarkets, and one feature was the wine buyer. They were bringing Australian wine in by the tanker ship load in bulk and then bottling it in the UK for sale, with an average landed cost (before bottling) of 56p per litre ( 96 cents Canadian). Canadian wineries can't compete with that volume or price.

Bohemian1

@Jagboi you are almost certainly correct. AC wants to buy wine they way they buy fuel.

But it's clearly a question of priorities since a small carrier like NZ has no problem offering a diverse, local wine list that includes smaller producers. But they put a greater emphasis on soft product than AC does, IMHO.

Stranger

Sorry but credibility ends with that last statement.

I have never seen a $15 bottle that should blow anyone's mind, whether here or there or on the moon. Maybe in Spain and some local places in Italy there are some that are drinkable but that's it.

On Canadian wines: typically they are too pricey for what they are. OTOH some places (such as Fairmont) may have some arrangements and be able to secure pricing that changes the picture. Both or kids wedding dinners were at the Palliser in Calgary, and having looked (and tasted) we ended up finding the best priced wines were Canadian. I would expect AC to be able to secure a similar deal. So I think what Andrew says must make sense.

I still wish for a somewhat higher wine budget... Until them we mostly go for the champagne.

KenHamer

Particularly for the frequent fliers who likely make up the biggest proportion of SS passengers, and who frequently complain about the meal/desert/candy bar being forever the same flight in flight out, why is having the same wine on every plane and every flight so important?

Do FFers make flight decisions based on the wines they think will be served?