Business Traveler, April 2020

A P R I L 2 0 2 0 b u s i n e s s t r a v e l e r u s a c o m 4 7 C E L L A R S I N T H E S K Y AWA R D S C O M PE T I N G A I R L I N E S Aegean Aer Lingus Aeroflot Aircalin Air Canada Air Italy Air New Zealand Air Tahiti Nui American Airlines ANA Austrian Airlines British Airways Brussels Airlines Cathay Dragon Cathay Pacific Delta Air Lines Emirates Etihad Airways EVA Air Finnair Gulf Air Icelandair Japan Airlines Jetblue Jetstar Korean Air LATAM Malaysia Airlines Oman Air Qantas Qatar Airways Singapore Airlines TAP Air Portugal Virgin Atlantic Westjet Our thanks to all the airlines that took part RICHARD GRAY RUGFOOT PHOTOGRAPHY To be eligible for the Best Overall Cellar airlines had to enter at least one red white and sparkling wine PICTURED The judges blind tasted the wines then compared their findings in pairs O ver two busy days at the end of November some of the worlds top wine experts assembled to select the best bottles served by airlines in business and first class in 2019 Our judges masters of wine Sarah Abbott Tim Atkin and Peter Mc Combie journalist and wine writer Kathryn McWhirter and head judge Charles Metcalfe co chairman of the International Wine Challenge took up residence at Londons Amba Hotel Grosvenor in Victoria to conduct extensive tastings Business Travelers Cellars in the Sky awards have been running since 1985 This year 35 airlines entered with judges sampling more than 250 bottles to find the winners The competition is open to any carrier that serves wine in business or first class on mid or longhaul routes with each airline invited to enter two reds two whites a rosé a new category a sparkling and a fortified or dessert wine from both cabins Although the airlines could compete in as many categories as they like to be eligible for the overall award of Best Cellar they had to enter at least one red one white and one sparkling wine All of the tasting is done blind meaning the judges are not aware of the wine make or the airline that entered it Given their extensive knowledge blind tasting is the only way to do it properly Metcalfe says To ensure their anonymity bottles were encased in black plastic bags labeled simply with a letter and two numbers I watched for example as the judges silently filled their glasses with the first flight of first class white wines or as they had come to be known FC1 followed by an additional number to differentiate each entry Perhaps silence is misleading The swirling smelling and swishing of the contents did create a rather amusing chorus of sounds interjected by a few remarks as the experts jotted down notes on their trusty clipboards Other senses were called upon too with the judges holding their glasses up to the light to examine the appearance of the wines To avoid lingering headaches spittoons were arranged around the room although these tended to lose their purpose during the final flight of first class sparkling wine which as McCombie chuckled was basically a pleasure A plate of crackers provided a much needed palate cleanser between flights HOW THE WINES ARE ASSESSED The judges paired up and tasted half of the entries for each flight Once they had tasted them independently they convened in their pairs and compared findings scoring the wines out of 100 I watched as they discussed their remarkably close scores which were averaged to get a fair mark Team A then picked their favorite wines of the flight and put them up against Team Bs selection with the quartet then re tasting the final selection and awarding Gold Silver Bronze and sometimes Highly Commended By the time we get to the final top winners theyre bloody good wines and theyve been through the mill to get there Metcalfe explains Broadly speaking the judges tended to agree but disagreements were always welcomed as they were a way to get deeper into the wine Abbott notes We know each others strengths and weaknesses Metcalfe adds although Atkin quickly tweaked this to our likes and dislikes UP IN THE AIR While our judges have their feet on solid ground they are well versed in the quality of wines at 35000 feet Experts in the field or air should we say they look for bal