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American Airlines toasted for top-flight wine list
(Tulsa World (OK) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Mar. 4--For news value, American Airlines' triumphs at the Cellars in the Sky Awards last month don't rank with turning a $231 million profit after five years of losses or winning a lucrative third-party maintenance contract.
But receiving the awards, presented at the Business Travel Show in London by Business Traveller and Wine and Spirits magazines, is a distinction that makes a difference to some business and first-class travelers, company and industry officials say.
"It shows good, solid management," said Mike Boyd, president of Boyd Group, an airline consultant in Evergreen, Colo. "There's a battleground for survival in front of that first-class curtain, where each seat costs as much as a suburban home. You're probably looking at 65 percent to 70 percent of the airline's revenue coming from in front of that curtain.
"When you find out American has the best wine selection, it tells you American is better value for the money than flying Air France, for instance."
American was one of 35 airlines that submitted a selection of their finest wines for two days of blind taste testing at the Cellars in the Sky Awards. The Fort Worth-based carrier won twice: Best First Class Wine Cellar for overall selection and Wild Card Wine for its Lustau La Plaza Vieja Sherry.
Air New Zealand won three times: Best Business Class Red Wine, Best Business Class Cellar and Most Original Business Class Wine List.
American has taken its wine selection seriously for more than 20 years, company executives said. Its wine consultant during that time was Dr. Richard Vine, who retired recently.
Diane Teitelbaum, a wine educator, writer and wine appraiser for the past 25 years, is American's new wine consultant.
"American Airlines takes great pride in selecting fine wines for our passengers," Mary McKee, American's managing director of onboard products, said in a written statement. "While we are honored to receive these awards, we are also very pleased to continue taking our wine lists to another level with our new wine consultant, Diane Teitelbaum."
Teitelbaum's responsibilities include selecting more than 60 wines that will be served aboard American's planes each month. American maintains 15 wine lists, specifically selected for various routes, and it buys 250,000 cases or 3 million bottles of wine annually, officials said.
American's wine consultant matches wine with the food that will be served on each flight. When the menu changes, Teitelbaum will select wines that complement the food, said American spokesman Charley Wilson.
"We select wine from the major growing regions of the world," Wilson said in a telephone interview. "You have passengers on board who are either fond of the regions they're traveling to or fond of the regions from which they're coming, and you want to make sure you have what they like.
"Those (business and first class) passengers are paying a premium for that service, and we want to make sure they return."
American's international wine list includes two reds, two whites, a champagne, a dessert wine and a sherry.
Flying to Japan? American's wine list includes a Japanese rice wine, Geikkeikan Horin Daiginjo Sake, in addition to Pommery Brut Non Vintage Champagne, Bouchard Aine Chablis, Raymond Napa Valley Chardonnay and St. Supery Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc.
If you're flying American to Chile this month, your selections will include Santa Rita Valle de Lontue Chile Carmenere. Also on the wine list are Heidsieck Monopole Non Vintage Champagne, Murphy-Goode Sonoma County Chardonnay, Sileni New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Clos du Val Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Graham's Vintage Port.
Transcontinental U.S. passen gers this month have the pick of seven wines: Domaine Chandon Non Vintage Brut, Domaine Ste. Michelle Non Vintage Brut, Buena Vista Reserve Chardonnay, Beringer California Pinot Grigio, William Hill Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Murrieta's Well Joaquin de Murrieta Tempranillo and Graham's Six Grapes Port.
Wilson said wine on international flights in the business and first-class sections is complimentary. It also is complimentary on domestic flights in first class, but not in business class. In coach, small bottles of wine cost about $5, he said.
For some passengers and business travelers, however, the wine list is a plus but a secondary consideration, said Alex Eaton, president of World Travel Service, which serves mostly business travelers.
"When it comes to a purchasing decision, time schedules and a competitive price are the big factors for business travelers," Eaton said. "Most international travelers who fly business class do so because they want to get to their destination well rested and ready to work.
"The wine list is fine, but mostly they want to be able to lie flat and rest on the flight so they can be productive when they arrive at their destination."
Copyright (c) 2007, Tulsa World, Okla.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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