The EK Wine Thread
 

Hello all,

Here is a good place for us to talk about one of EK's best qualities - their wine and spirits selection both on the ground and in flight.

Please post your experiences. Don't be afraid to let your inner sommelier out!

Aside from that, we will also have some exclusive announcements about upcoming seasonal wine available on board and in lounges!

Let me get the ball rolling....Some may have experienced it already but in August selected J class flights will serve an exclusive Champagne...

Veuve Clicquot 2008 Vintage

And a new fortified wine, selected F services will also serve...

Graham's Colheita 1963, Single Vintage Tawny Port

Happy quaffing.

I just wish there were more South African wines onboard. If Indigo (6E - Indian LCC) can sell South African wine onboard why can't EK have at least one in their repertoire?

I had an SA Red in Y. Not exactly showcasing SA though....

Can I post an unpopular opinion?

Made friends with a F passenger in the A380 bar who shared some of his Dom with me.

I don't see what the big fuss is about?! Have had several champagnes and MCC's that are significantly "nicer". But that may just be my untrained palate!

I just use the opportunity to try something a bit different.

Would be nice for national pride to share some of our nicer stuff though!

Doesn't have to be super fancy. Some Haute Cabrière in Y would go down well and most people would probably love it. Or even lower budget something standard like a Durbanville Hills etc.

Regarding Dom, I'm also not a big fan, I prefer Moet.

Dom is Moet :D

But in a nicer bottle and a bigger marketing budget ;)

Serious note: I do know that they are made from different proportions of varietals etc. etc. tongue firmly in cheek before the wine brigade take me out back and shoot me in the head

:rolleyes:

No its not. Same owners but that's about it.

I'm looking forward to the Dom Rose 2005 next month.

Yes - I want this thread to go like the recent BA one. All the wine snobs get very upset by the likes of me who drinks stuff that I actually like (which is really anything alcoholic). :D

Wiki agrees with me :-

Dom Pérignon is a brand of vintage Champagne produced by the Champagne house Moët & Chandon

I'm enjoying that thread!

Anyway some great reds onboard - Cos D'Estournel 2004 at the moment and my favorite Amuse Bouche.

imho, it is average compared to previous vintages.

My best EK wine lottery wins were, the D'Yquem 2005 on board (with no drinkers!) and in the lounge, Vega Sicilia Unico 2000.

I agree that EK does go for the more flagship wines, but to be expected when they can get large volume discounts!

Do you reckon they'll get the P2 on BA? Something smells fishy to me... and it's not one of their B747s.

Marketing budgets aside... EK are serving a 54 year old port in F. That is remarkable.

Also hearing that vintage Champagne in J is a world first unless you are hanging on to a friendly F traveller in the 388 lounge.

No chance - EK is Moet's (well LVMH's) major marketing partner.

P2 is only on EK to:

1) move product
2) marketing

EK get a hefty, hefty discount. Well, not discount per se, I think more "rebate" (buy a pallet, we'll give you a case free)

Veuve is another LVMH brand ;)

BR served Dom Perignon which is always vintage, in J for a while. It is now Veuve La Grande Dame 2006.

As for port, an old vintage is great and I hope to see more Symington products on board - their Chryseia red wine is exceptional. Hopefully EK can point to their LVMH partnership and nudge them to join in!

I agree - no way. They may get Krug or the 2009 DP but EK is tied up with them.

EK's buying power helps me - I got a great deal from MMI on 12 bottles of Cos D'estournel 2016.

Krug, another LVMH brand! I think it'll be available if BA want to pay wholesale, but I think all the LVMH halo products will stay with EK.

How much for a case of Cos 2016 at MMI? And, where are you going to keep it!

By far my favourite from just over a year ago in F was the 2003 Chateau Certan de May de Certan, Pomerol. Amazing!

I also do really quite like the 2006 Vintage Moet served in the B J Champagne Lounge.

Either in BBR or Fine and Rare. Also got Lynch Bages 16.

I'll mail you the price!

:D

I got gifted a bottle as you may recall!!! :D

And who doesn't like the BJ lounge? I've not been there in 2 years although with Plat vastly looking like disappearing I may have to settle for Moet and the B J. :D

Yeah - very jealous of that! I had to track down the last 2 x bottles in Australia and buy them at auction. Ha!

I'm personally loving the light italian red in J class - Toscana Crognolo 2012 - very easy to drink!

Kapcsandy Estate Cuvee (forget the year) Napa Valley... this was insane. Most of their other wines are completely unaffordable. DXB-SFO vv in J, May, probably only for 3 weeks.

2007 Langoa Barton DXB-SFO v/v November-January in J. It was an off year in Bordeaux but this was still awesome... I don't particularly like this chateau in more ripe years (05/09/10) but this was great... maybe the altitude?

Of course, Dom 2006 in F is amazing, almost too intense at altitude with the white floral notes as well as the savory mushroom/red fruit. I actually prefer the NV Moet or Veuve to drink several glasses of...

Cos 2004 in F... had this in the F lounge but at altitude it was a bit tough.

I actually buy quite a lot of wines I have on board - each to their own but I don't mind spending on red wine and vintage champagne.

Looking forward to the 2009 Dom being on board soon.

I do as well if they're available locally. The wine store I go to (klwines.com) tends to have almost everything EK has but the Kapcsandy single-vineyards were a bit much for me - and it's impossible to get into their winery for a tasting (not to mention $150 to sit for the tasting!). I tend to prefer lesser known producers who have excellent quality (a ton of vintage grower champagne!) but much lower prices, of which K&L has a ton of!

I think that EK can potentially push beyond the blingy brand names, grand marques and 1er cru classe etc etc, and highlight smaller producers such as Kapcsandy that are seriously amazing, still luxe, but perhaps not as well-known.

The problem is they need quantity - I've been loving the Mascot on board recently by the Harlan estate well Amanda Harlan (daughter of Bill Harlan). Other memorable favourites were Montebello by Ridge wines ^

If it were quantity then the Kapcsandy wouldn't have been around... If the website were actually accurate it would be fun to scrape the website for all routes and see what's being served everywhere :)

What year of Montebello did they serve? And what route was it?

I remember that Montebello - wasn't it a couple of years ago? It was excellent! iirc it went to Australia and Asia.

i actually think that EK rotate as much small producer wine as they can, but as m3red says, quantity.

They need at least for a month.

The release of Chateau d'Yquem a few months ago in F was actually slightly disappointing I thought. The wine needed a bit of time to open up as some of the complexities were difficult to discern, but FAs were opening it only when customers wanted it (I know its hardly cost effective to open $500 wine in the off chance that someone *might* drink it). Its obviously quite a bottle to have on board, but I don't think it was anywhere near as nice in the air as it is on the ground in the F lounge.

I think that could be applied to most of EK's wine selection - I haven't had a 2005 D'Yquem on the ground to compare though!

Last December I enjoyed (more than a few) glasses of Penfolds Bin 389 in J. I noticed that not long after leaving SYD 6 bottles had been opened to breathe in the galley...I was very impressed. Much easier to do it for a wine like this than Cd'Y though!

I don't think I've ever seen them proactively open wine except for the PDB. I try to get to the bar right when it opens and get a few glasses of the partial bottles from the last leg (esp. coming from outstations) so I get the ones that have been open for a few hours.

There should not be anything left from the last leg: all open bottles are poured into the toilets before landing.

Most first class crew will have thrown hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of wine down the toilets during their career with EK ;)

Opening wine earlier is one of the things on my file notes on the pursers tablets. They do have carafes now but not seen them pro actively offered recently.

ET you are right on the Ridge - I had it on the way to Sri Lanaka and back. I think it was 2008.

They have it in the F lounge?

They did, but not now.

Leftover wine from rotations ends up in the F lounges so sometimes there are some gems there!