Melvyn Minnaar Potable pleasures
Drinking and flying is not on. Even if you’re not piloting the long-haul Boeing, alcohol indulgence is bad for your body. The hours spent physically static and confined to a seat in a pressurised cabin, exposed to the ensuing dehydration, is not the recommended
condition for a cocktail party, never mind a binge.
More often than not, boredom is the reason for drinking too much – and eating that terrible food served in the people’s part of the plane! The reality is that vast quantities of liquor are consumed on flights. And a lot of wine is drunk.
South African Airways caught on to the idea of linking top-quality local wine to their corporate promotion strategy years ago. And it has had good spin-offs for the
winemakers and the industry.
As far as the on-board winedrinkers are concerned, it’s only in first and business class that you get to savour the winners.
Nevertheless, Michael Fridjhon, who puts this whole business together, is devoted enough an expert and wine-lover to fight for the wine rights of the ordinary okes as well. He says they try to keep fine wines in the shelves of those charm-challenged cabinet trolleys. Those of us who sometimes try desperately to get a dumpy better than plonk may wonder about SAA theory and practice …
It’s best to stick to the Caledon water. It’s better for your health, but there’s an additional hitch, which may be reason enough not to indulge: wine at 10 000m tastes distinctly
different from when you’re sipping it at an earth-anchored dinner table.
The interesting news at the recent junket to launch this year’s on-flight wines was the results of the airline’s research to taste variations while cruising at high altitudes. Flavours like coffee, cocoa and soft fruits like banana and peach – often recognised and used in wine description – are “substantially reduced”, while “citrus-related flavinoids” taste less obvious. Ripe berry fruits, on the other hand, suffer no flavour loss.
What this means is that the “grassiness” of a sauvignon blanc will be more pronounced,
as will the “green leaf” fragrance in some new cabernets.
The brilliant, mouth-filling KWV Cathedral Cellars 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon, with its totally modern feel of ripe black berries and a touch of mint, has the body and soul for the mile-high club.
The judges gave the white wine version to Martin Meinert’s stylish Vergelegen 1996 Chardonnay Reserve. The port crowned was Carel Nel’s Boplaas 1995 Touriga Nacional, and the winning Cap Classique was Pieter Ferreira’s Graham Beck Brut Blanc de Blanc of 1992.