Posted Jul 9, 2023, 2:00 PM
We promise: this summer, passengers who take La Compagnie planes to get to New York will be treated to a top-flight gastronomic and oenological experience. But how do you really taste in the air? The question has arisen practically since the beginnings of commercial flights, as the links between catering and aviation are so old. In 1926, the French airline Air Union put into service a Léo H-213 “Rayon d’or” fitted out as a dining plane for twelve guests on the Paris-London line. For the first time, a bartender employed by the Compagnie des Wagons-Lits was present to serve the food and drinks, champagnes and Bordeaux wines in mind.
Over the decades, the meal quickly became the highlight of the trip, thanks to the improvement of devices. The arrival of the Constellation aircraft in 1946 and then the Super Constellation in 1953 at Air France will thus make it possible to offer a whole new experience. Lobsters, meats cut directly in the cabin and great wines delight wealthy and demanding passengers. In 1955, the American company PanAm acquired the first Boeing 707s, much faster jets, and also offered a top-of-the-range service. Menu signed Maxim’s and French crus, a 1953 Pouilly-Fuissé as well as a Saint-Émilion, Château L’Arrosée 1952, which has just become a Grand Cru Classé.
Competition for the “best air cellar”
But the quintessence of refinement will be reached by the Concorde, commissioned in 1969. One example among others, the menu proposed in 1998 commemorating the dinner of the three emperors which brought together in Paris in 1867 Bismarck, Guillaume Ier and Alexandre II. To accompany the imperial fresh caviar, the lobster salad with truffles and the supreme of guinea fowl with champagne, nothing less than a Roederer Cristal 1985 champagne served in a magnum. With the possibility of also tasting an Echezeaux grand cru 1988 or a very beautiful Château TrotteVieille 1986.
First class on a PanAm flight in the 1970s. © Granger/Bridgeman Images
Today, the major airlines compete in the “Cellars in the Sky” competition. This demonstrates the quality of the wine selections made. This year, at the 37th edition, Singapore Airlines won the coveted title of “best cellar » Aerial. Emirates has, for its part, set up an aging cellar in France for very great Bordeaux wines and currently offers first class passengers the opportunity to taste a Château Margaux 2004, a Cos d’Estournel 2005 or even a Léoville Las Cases 1998. very great wines on the ground which do not however taste the same way in the air.
Altered perceptions
“Very few people drink tomato juice on a daily basis, but it is particularly popular in flight,” explains Gabriel Lepousez, neurobiologist at the Perception and Memory laboratory at the Institut Pasteur. This might seem trivial, yet this example is revealing of the modification of our senses in the plane.
“The most determining element is undoubtedly the level of humidity. Typically 20% in most aircraft in service, it turns out to be well below typical part levels, above 50%. This damages the mucous membranes of the nose, which contract, and as a result we do not really feel the aromas of the wines, which seem less marked than usual. A similar effect is observed in the mouth. The drying out of the mucus increases the sensation of astringency and hardness of the tannins”, he specifies. And as if that weren’t enough, recent studies have shown that the noisy cabin environment decreases flavor intensity.
With the fatigue due to the jet lag and the stress, all the factors are there for the tasting at 10,000 meters to be thorny. The selection of wines must therefore integrate these difficulties upstream to offer an optimal experience to passengers. Paolo Basso, best sommelier in the world in 2013, has been choosing all the wines consumed on Air France for nine years. A major challenge since 800,000 bottles are uncorked each year in business and first class alone, to which are added 1 million bottles of champagne offered to all passengers. “On board, the palate is more aware of the harsh parts of a wine. Tannins, of course, but also acidity and mineral salts. It is therefore essential to take wines that do not present an imbalance. Among the 2,000 wines that we taste blind each year, we therefore do not retain those with excessively exuberant fruit ripeness or extravagant ageing”, he testifies.
Favor sparkling wines
This is corroborated by Thierry Desseauve, co-founder of the specialist magazine “En Magnum”, in charge of wine selection for La Compagnie: “We rule out wine styles that are too personalized, such as champagnes that are not dosed or that have been aged in barrels. We generally prefer rather young wines, which retain an expressive fruitiness and make it possible to limit the risk of irregularity from one bottle to another after years of ageing. Sauvignons, some Chardonnays, even Viogniers, for example, will be put forward for the whites. »
In general, Gabriel Lepousez suggests favoring sparkling wines, carbon dioxide multiplying the aromas, as well as wines more marked by umami – the fifth flavor, that of the “savory taste” (which is also found in the juice of tomato). Namely wines that have undergone prolonged aging on lees such as Muscadets, white wines born on granite soils, yellow wines or even sherry.
In an exacerbated competitive context, airlines are vying to stand out on the wine side. Be that as it may, the millions of passengers transported each year systematically require them to anticipate their needs to a large extent. Paolo Basso thus defines five to six years in advance the list of Bordeaux wines that will be consumed by travellers. It is impossible under these conditions to work upstream of food and wine pairings. Hence a choice of “broad-spectrum” wines that can go well with many dishes.
A special spaceflight vintage
This is where La Compagnie stands out. This French company, which has the particularity of only offering business class flights to New York, wants to offer a cutting-edge gastronomic experience at attractive prices. “We have a higher budget per pass than in large companies, explains Thierry Desseauve. This allows us to present very nice bottles every month, such as a Château La Tour de Mons 2015 (margaux) or a Château Margüi 2020 (coteaux-varois-en-Provence), perfectly in harmony with the dishes concocted by the house chef or the renowned chefs associated. » Always keeping in mind that notoriety remains essential for passengers. Hence the use of known names.
Each of these wines is also the subject of a video presentation on the estate, where the owner and Thierry Desseauve talk about the terroir and the typicality of the cuvée. One more step to enjoy wine in the air. With excellent news for the years to come: the new devices on the market offer much higher humidity levels in the cabin, a promise of richer experiences. Waiting to be able to taste wines during spaceflights. Some houses are already working on it, such as Mumm with the recent creation of the Cordon Rouge Stellar cuvée, specially designed for this purpose.
The proof by Beauregard
A tasting organized during a La Compagnie flight by Augustin Belloy, manager of Château Beauregard in Pomerol, and Vincent Priou, its managing director, proved to be very instructive. We were able to taste the Château Beauregard 2016 as well as the second wine, Benjamin de Beauregard 2017. It is the latter that won the prize for pleasure in the air, with its more immediate fruitiness and its supple tannins. A simplicity that responds more favorably in flight than the great wine, whose structure has tightened up more. On the ground, the hierarchy has been re-established with a Château Beauregard imposing its superbness, between depth of substance and velvety touch on the palate.
2023-07-09 12:00:30
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