THE GRAPE DEBATE
Aged wines rarely appear on the market, particularly not in the quantities required by an airline, so for the past decade, Emirates has been buying the wines and ageing them themselves.
Right now, their storage cellars in Burgundy and Dubai contain over 2 million bottles of fine wine from all over the world, slated to appear on the wine lists of First and Business Class between now and 2020 – and in the case of current En Primeurs, beyond. 2004 Château Pavie, a class ‘A’ first growth from St Emilion and a 2008 MazoyeresChambertin Grand Cru from Domaine Taupenot-Merme are just two of the wines being enjoyed in the skies right now, with stocks of all the famous names – Mouton Rothschild, Margaux, Haut Brion, Yquem and more – biding their time before they make their way onto flights over the coming years. It’s a considerable investment for the airline and to the best of their knowledge, they are the only ones sourcing wines this way – most airlines ask what’s available and then buy it, as opposed to making sure of their first choices direct from the cellars.
There’s no doubt that flying First Class on Emirates is a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience for most of us (they have showers on board for heaven’s sake!). But if you are in this market and you care about wine, then I think you’d struggle to get this level of quality on any other airline. It’s an opportunity to try perfectlyaged wines in a near-perfect environment (Emirates have been able to reduce the effects of altitude in their cabins so your drinking experience is now akin to sipping wines at 1,500m above sea level – not unlike drinking in the Cederberg), and if you’re travelling in First or Business class the bottles seldom run dry.
If, like me you’re hampered by exchange rates from buying overseas wines to cellar for decades, there are some excellent options closer to hand. A new release from Simonsig is The Garland 2008, a cabernet sauvignon from a single block on a farm belonging to the extended Malan family. It’s a big, dark, brooding monster of a wine which carries its hefty whack of alcohol with a light touch and is already showing more elegance than I expected. If you can squirrel it away for another 5 to 8 years, I think you’ll be rewarded – I wonder if we can persuade Emirates to help with that?