Airline Wine

After several consecutive weekends on planes (and a frustrating in-flight experience yesterday where the flight was totally out of red wine (!)), I thought I would take the chance to write about wine consumption on airplanes. And, after doing some light research on airplane wine, I realized it is a much richer topic than I would have initially guessed (and some of my preconceived notions about drinking on planes turned out not to be factually accurate).

First, airlines are gigantic purchasers of wine. Per the Decanter (an online wine publication), Qantas (a major Australian airline) is “the third largest purchaser of wine in Australia” [1]. And, on a similar theme, Emirates Airlines is said to have a cellar that has “3.8 million bottles of vintage wine” [2]. While I was entirely unaware of how much wine airlines are purchasing, I find it interesting that there is not one signature wine/brand/region that I associate with airplanes. As a frequent Delta flyer, I have a strong association between Biscoff cookies and flying/Delta airlines. However, there is no wine or wine-brand that holds the same association, which I think is a major opportunity for a wine brand (and airlines in general).

Second, I have often wondered why it feels as if wine tastes better (or provides more relaxation) on airplanes. According to a GQ article called, “The Science Behind What Makes Wine Tastes Better on a Plane”, the airlines are specifically picking wines that stand up to dry climates and pressurized cabins [3]. The article makes the point that it is not the wine that is chemically altered when at altitude; it is the human body that is impacted. This, in turn, changes how we experience and enjoy wines.

Third, one misconception I have always believed is that wine (and all alcohol) has a stronger chemical effect at altitude. However, it turns on that is not true [4]. While it seems as if some of the effects of altitude are amplified by alcohol, the impact of alcohol itself is not impacted by altitude. While that is not particularly relevant just to wine, I thought I would share that here, given I think a lot of people believe that alcohol is more potent while flying.

Finally, thinking back to some of the midterm presentations, it seems that airlines might be a good entry point for developing regions (e.g., Portugal, China, etc.) to leverage intercontinental airlines to begin to build a regional brand. Given that airlines are such large purchasers of wine (and some wines can taste even better than normal at altitude), it seems like an interesting opportunity for certain regions to bring focus and attention to their wines. There is some obvious brand risk associated with being linked to in-flight drinking, however with the up-market trend of many airlines’ dining/drinking offerings, I think the risk is minimal.


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[1] https://www.decanter.com/features/airline-wines-secret-life-372891/
[2] Ibid.
[3] https://www.gq.com/story/in-flight-drinking-wine-flavor
[4] https://www.eater.com/2019/6/21/18693037/drinking-on-airplane-travel-how-much-is-too-much-tomato-juice-flight; https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2008/08/does-alcohol-have-more-of-an-effect-at-high-altitudes.html