Judging Wine At 40,000 Feet
Did you know that if you fly east, you fly at an odd number altitude wise, for
example, 39,000 feet, while, when you fly west, you fly at an even number, maybe
38,000 or 40, 000 feet, The pilot needs to find the sweet spot where the air is
not thin (always at higher altitudes) and where there is less drag on the
plane, so less fuel is needed to reach the desired speed (always at lower
altitudes),
Desired altitudes for commercial flights range from 35,000 feet to 42,000 feet.
What happens to your palate when you drink wine at those altitudes?
Desired altitudes for commercial flights range from 35,000 feet to 42,000 feet.
What happens to your palate when you drink wine at those altitudes?
Aircraft cabins are extremely dry and the drier you get, the
drier your olfactory system is, which translates into your inability to
translate complexity in wines. The wines you know won’t be totally
unrecognizable, but, they will be new wines, in a sense, on your compromised
palate. Your nasal passages are naturally dry in the air, which throws your
aroma and taste buds off course. Add background noise, biorhythms, time change
and flight vibration to the gamut and you are really not yourself when you
sample wine on flights.
To relieve the stress of how you will perceive the wines taste, TAP airlines has a crew of ten wine experts who take all of the misguidance into account when sampling Portuguese wines to establish those few that will make the cut for your tasting pleasure onboard.
As a member of the TAP blind wine tasting team, made up of Portuguese and Brazilian wine experts, the sampling of the wines was tedious.
In a matter of three days, our team sampled over six hundred wines-all Portuguese-on the ground. The top scoring fifty vote getters, twenty-five (25) white and twenty-five (25) red were then sampled in the air, on a six hour flight, to and from Lisbon to Prague.
Each was judged and given a score. wine a score. These wines were the final cut.
There a few lessons to be learned when tasting wine at altitudes close to 40,000 feet.
First, hydrate yourself when drinking wine. A simple rule is one glass of water for each glass of wine that you drink. Yes, dehydration coupled with alcohol is avoidable.
To relieve the stress of how you will perceive the wines taste, TAP airlines has a crew of ten wine experts who take all of the misguidance into account when sampling Portuguese wines to establish those few that will make the cut for your tasting pleasure onboard.
As a member of the TAP blind wine tasting team, made up of Portuguese and Brazilian wine experts, the sampling of the wines was tedious.
In a matter of three days, our team sampled over six hundred wines-all Portuguese-on the ground. The top scoring fifty vote getters, twenty-five (25) white and twenty-five (25) red were then sampled in the air, on a six hour flight, to and from Lisbon to Prague.
Each was judged and given a score. wine a score. These wines were the final cut.
There a few lessons to be learned when tasting wine at altitudes close to 40,000 feet.
First, hydrate yourself when drinking wine. A simple rule is one glass of water for each glass of wine that you drink. Yes, dehydration coupled with alcohol is avoidable.
Two, avoid tannins. Tannins tend to become over-exaggerated in the air.
Three, wines with concentrated fruit and’ New World’ ripeness tend to be the ‘go to’ airline wines.
Four, bottle-aged reds that are tannin free work well.
Five, sparkling wine, only made in the traditional methode champenoise style fare well.
Six, let your red wine rest a few minutes, to warm up, before sampling.
Seven, always remember that the dryness of the air aboard an airliner and the low pressure in the airplane cabin combine to disrupt your taste buds that focus on salt and sweetness, but, don’t affect spicy, bitter or sour tastes.
Eight, wine doesn’t change flavors at high altitudes, our palate changes due to the re-cycling of the cabin air.
All in all, TAP Airlines puts in a lot of due diligence before selecting wines for your transatlantic flights.
Visit www.TAP.com to learn more.
Philip S. Kampe
philip.kampe@thewinehub.com
No comments:
Post a Comment