Bordeaux on a high with Emirates

Words: Mark de Wesselow

You don’t expect to find fine wine at 35,000 feet. But as a trip to Bordeaux with Emirates airline proved, wine is now receiving star billing in the skies.

Head of Emirates catering Joost Heymeijer is running his eye over a three-day Bordeaux itinerary with quiet satisfaction. I’ve joined him and the wine-buying team from Emirates in France to find out more about the role fine wine is playing in the airline’s in-flight offerings, and how it works with Bordeaux châteaux in particular.

In its way, this trip is a living endorsement of a plan that started a decade ago, when Emirates decided to put fine wine at the centre of its catering programme. Back in 2005, airline president Sir Tim Clark was firm in the belief that wine could underscore that crucial sense of luxury for his passengers, as well as give his airline a decisive competitive advantage. Over the subsequent 10 years the wine programme has benefited from investment of more than £350m, and has two million bottles currently ageing in its own cellars in the heart of France. These days, Emirates is not only the biggest corporate buyer of Dom Pérignon Champagne, but also one of the biggest players in the en primeur market.

Bordeaux accounts for about 45% of that cellar stock, with first- and second-growth aristocracy peppered in every corner. But what surprises me is just how much wine is bought direct from both Left and Right Bank châteaux, often in surprisingly small parcels.

Château chat

This means fostering close relationships, and it is these relationships that are opening the doors of some of the most renowned producers on the planet during this trip. Not only am I being afforded the chance to taste big names such as Margaux, Haut-Brion, Lynch-Bages, Cos d’Estournel, Mouton Rothschild and Cheval Blanc, I’m visiting these venerable estates, too.

First stop is Haut-Brion, where current doyen Prince Robert of Luxembourg explains why he feels it’s equally important for these prestigious châteaux to work with the airline. “Being on Emirates is a great showcase for our brands,” he says with gravelly solemnity. And in a world where time is a luxury, he firmly believes a flight “is a great time to fully appreciate our wines”.

At Château Margaux, talk turns to terroir. Managing director Paul Pontallier speaks for all the first growths I visit when he stresses that “great terroir has the ability to adapt according to the weather conditions for each year, whereas the lesser terroirs produce significantly less good wines in difficult years”. As if to prove the point, we taste the 2004 from his cellars – not a great vintage for the Médoc, but everyone agrees it is drinking superbly with all the pure-fruited and fine-grained elegance of a classic Margaux.

Vintage variation

Pontallier, who has been at Margaux for more than 30 years, is also clear on what he feels has been the biggest single development of the past century. “It’s the work in the vineyards and our ability to harvest the grapes at perfect maturity,” he says. “We’ve learnt to make this standard practice and we’re not afraid to let the acidity drop, which explains why poor vintages like 1984, 1992 and 1994 are no more.” It also explains why the amount of Merlot in wines such as those from Margaux is falling fast. “We no longer need a proportion of Merlot to produce the ripeness [in the wine] to mask what was sometimes under-ripe Cabernet Sauvignon,” says Pontallier.

One of the vintages we taste is closed at the moment, another is drinking beautifully, while a third is drinking well – though Pontallier predicts it will be so much better a few years from now, in 2020. Oliver Dixon, head of fine wine and in charge of the Emirates wine programme for the past five years, is with us, sniffing and swirling vigorously, and scribbling away in his notebook. The fact that Emirates is currently serving a Palmer 1995 on one of its routes is ample proof of just how patient the airline is prepared to be in making sure wine is always served at its optimum.

Waiting game

Most of the wines we try are currently sitting in the Emirates cellars, and Dixon is keen to see how they are showing, knowing that many are not slated for his cabin lists for another two to five years. “Emirates purchased a number of parcels of 2014 Bordeaux wines for both business and first classes,” Dixon tells me. “But these wines will not be seen on board before 2022, and some not until 2030.”

As well as looking after such an ambitious cellaring programme and the difficulties of sourcing scarce parcels, the Emirates team has to also consider the logistical problems of loading flights correctly, the frequent updating of menus and the training of cabin crew. Wouldn’t it have been a lot easier to count the flights, calculate the bottles needed and put it all out to tender? “We wanted to take control of our own destiny,” says Clark, who is closely involved in all of the key buying decisions. “Offering our customers opportunities to try the best vintages of a wider variety of top names is all part of the aim.”

His approach means that passengers can be given the choice between Vega Sicilia 2000 and Château Pavie 2004 on one flight, and Montrose and Penfolds St Henri on another. This matters to an airline that values customer loyalty. “Emirates is not just an airline, it is a lifestyle brand,” says Heymeijer. “We are committed to the highest levels of service and in-flight entertainment, and, as well as the food, the wine is a major part of the entertainment. To us, and to many of our customers, wine is an experience. Our customers want to enjoy wine on board as if they are in a fine dining restaurant.” I’ll drink to that.

 

This article was published 12 October 2015