Gulping fine wine may give you a high but its production is nevertheless painstaking indeed. Air New Zealand earlier this year announced its inaugural Fine Wines of New Zealand list. According to the airline, the creation of the list was in itself painstaking similar to producing a fine wine.
Bruce Parton, Chief Operations Officer of Air New Zealand, said, “The preparation of the Fine Wines of New Zealand list was initiated more than two years ago and it has been made public after finalization. There was a need for promoting the top end of wine in New Zealand for long, and at the same time the whole promotional campaign was to be kept independent from the airline itself. And, we have finally succeeded too.”
Parton stated that some 47 wines now comprise the Fine Wines of New Zealand list. Five Masters of Wine and one Master Sommelier took part in the whole process. These include Alastair Maling, Sam Harrop, Simon Nash, Michael Brajkovich and Steve Smith (all Masters of Wine), and Cameron Douglas (Master Sommelier). It took over eight months to fine tune. During this period more than 130 wines of different varieties were discussed and tasted by six wine professionals.
A spokesperson of Air New Zealand said that the final 47 wines that have made it to the Fine Wines of New Zealand list would be served to customers booking business class tickets for travel in the airline’s Business Premier cabins. The airline will however not serve all selected 47 wines on all of its flights. The wines would be matched to the meals being served on that particular day. Also, some of the wines in the list are not available in bulk as required by the airline.
Media reports said that the Fine Wines of New Zealand list is first of its kind for any international airline in the world. Moreover, this is also first of its kind for the New Zealand wine industry as well. The reports also stated that this creating of a list is unique in itself, particularly with the endeavors of a group of independent experts.
PASSPORT & VISA PROCESSING