Well, it depends on what airline you are flying. And, of course, where you are sitting.

Wine has always been a tricky issue in the friendly skies. On one hand, they want to give you something reasonable but on the other hand they want to pay as little for it as is humanly possible and will put the wine selection out to offer (tender it) to varying companies to see what they can get. Historically most airlines, domestically speaking, have had a poor track record so they have enlisted wine experts to help them out and give them a way of ‘promoting’ their wine program while making the ‘pain of paying’ slightly less as you are getting better quality more often than not. My friends Doug Frost (United) and Andrea Robinson (Delta) have helped bring the wine programs of the economy classes of those respective carriers way up. Ditto for ‘classless’ airlines like Jet Blue who has enlisted Josh Wesson (he of Best Cellars fame) to assist in the wine selection process driven by the value proposition. Continue reading »

It has indeed been a busy week in New Zealand with our Master Sommelier programs in both Wellington, the country’s capital, and Auckland, its largest city. The programs were rewarding and energetic and bode well for this nation’s evolution of the ‘métier’ of sommelerie. Tonight we are having dinner with NZ’s first and currently only Master Sommelier, Cameron Douglas, among others of the US team to review the courses, plan for the future and celebrate a week well done. Brian Julyan, the Court’s global CEO based out of the UK, and members of the ‘Team Australia’ contingent, coming off the successful courses in Melbourne and Sydney will join us and debrief the ‘Team NZ” on the results of those sessions. Should prove to be a great evening of shared success and camaraderie with great food and, of course, excellent NZ wines. Continue reading »

I have been in this business a long time. No old age jokes please, as I have heard them all - from “Pleistocene Sommelier” to “What wine goes with brontosaurus”. That said, I still get rookie-like giddiness when teaching people who are just beginning their quest.

A group of us have been down under for this past week to assist the Court of Master Sommeliers in expanding our “brand” into the Antipodes. We’ve just completed our first-ever course, in Melbourne and that group of MS’s (Team Aussie if you will) continues on to do same in Sydney. I am on “Team Kiwi”, and we are completing a session of level one (the Introductory program) and a “level two” certified in Wellington (NZ), before heading off to examine in Auckland. Continue reading »