Etihad launches flights to Bali

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• TimM says:

  11 Dec11 December 03:53

  I am, and always have been, an oenephile. However in all my travels, and wine is part of travelling, I have to say French wine is the poorest value and least impressive. You can tell me a thousand times over that xxx is the perfect example of what it should be, but if what it is is not very good, I am not impressed nor fooled by the French wine pretension. I feel that if the French had had the same exposure to wines of the World that we British had, they may be a little more educated and make better wines themselves. Sadly, the French, in France, almost exclusively drink their own.

  So well done to Emirates for the operation but they chose the wrong country. Plus 12-15 years of ageing is very risky. Almost all wines are past their best by then, unless fortified. It appears an “insane” marketing exercise.

  • Joe says:

    11 Dec11 December 05:33

    There are indeed wonderful wines from outside France. But you’re not much of an oenophile if you believe the wines they’re cellaring are past their best after 15 years…

    • Mayfair Mike says:

      11 Dec11 December 11:51

      This

  • Bodkin says:

    11 Dec11 December 07:13

    Everything you have written about wine in this comment is wrong.

    • TimM says:

      11 Dec11 December 07:57

      I am always very happy to be proved wrong. The subjectivity of the subject makes that difficult so all I can do is give the benefit of 50 years experience of drinking and tasting wine and expressing an honest opinion. There are some good French wines but they cost a fortune and their like is available for far less from other countries. The French have gone up their own bottoms with wine – they would benefit from a broader wine education.

      • Ben says:

        11 Dec11 December 08:35

        It’s not about being proven wrong, you are wrong. It is so obviously absurd what you’ve written. For a start you can’t generalise about French wine as if it is all the same, second there is a reason top Burgundy (red and white) is expensive (possibly too expensive now-a-days) and that’s because the demand is greater than supply…because it’s so wonderful. New World producers often make wine in a Burgundian style because that’s what people want – try Kumeu River whites. Third there is now excellent value in Bordeaux – read Jancis and you’ll see.

        Emirates is also pouring DP too young, I have ‘08 with many years to go before it’s ready – as with all vintages of the many many French appellations the drinking window will be different each year. In addition, there is an expectation of an F customer; they want the best, not the best value….and….in any case, they don’t just serve French wines.

        • Stu_N says:

          11 Dec11 December 11:15

          The only thing I would agree with @TimM on is that the French public aren’t curious enough about the wider world of wine. French winemakers certainly are and it’s increasingly common for them to travel and do stints abroad, particularly in southern hemisphere, and the wines are all the better for that. The rest is somewhere between questionable and nonsense.

      • LittleNick says:

        11 Dec11 December 09:21

        You can’t beat Champagne!

        • TimM says:

          11 Dec11 December 12:28

          Cava, prosecco…. Cider.

        • Mikeact says:

          11 Dec11 December 21:23

          You obviously haven’t tried some of the English sparkling wines….certainly giving Champagne a run for it’s money…according to some recent taste tests. And interestingly, the French buying into the local industry.

      • Kellyk says:

        11 Dec11 December 10:16

        Sounds like you are the one talking out of your backside

    • Kellyk says:

      11 Dec11 December 10:18

      +1

  • JDB says:

    11 Dec11 December 07:27

    It would appear that you may have been drinking the wrong wines for rather a long time. Yes, there are plenty of wonderful wines from countries other than France and quality is increasing all over the world but to dismiss all French wine or wine of vintages prior to 2008 is ridiculous.

  • dougzz99 says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:39

    Isn’t it Oenophile rather than Oenephile?

  • Margaux says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:42

    Tell me you buy your wine in the supermarket without telling me you buy your wine in the supermarket …

    • Stu_N says:

      11 Dec11 December 11:15

      @Margaux haha!

  • Peter K says:

    11 Dec11 December 13:41

    I have personally never tried a French wine I have liked. There are no doubt those who love them, but they are not to my palate.

  • Bodkins says:

    11 Dec11 December 13:46

    French winemakers frequently travel to study and work abroad in NZ, SA, Australia and the USA and S America, and overseas winemakers travel to France to study and work. French chateaux own and manage vinyards all over the world, including the UK. 10 years of aging is the minimum for most grand crus Bordeaux, some will need at least 15 years and often more. Bordeaux offers some amazing value at the moment in the lower price categories – here around £10 a bottle – no wonder the French drink it. Between them, France, Italy and Spain produce some excellent cheap wine, simply because they produce such vast amounts.

  • patrick C says:

    12 Dec12 December 06:12

    Well basically you can’t rwally be an oenophile and say that prosecconis good.
    That really means that you probably destroyed your taste buds …
    Now good Frenchbwine is expensive, especially if it is famous due to demand, but itnis very easy tinfind outstanding value fir money (if you actually know anything).

    As for other countries, some produce excellent stuff too. Like Trento cremant in italy (not prosecco), Roja wines are often incredible value, the Tirol region produces very good whites and Austria produces some of the best pinot noir, better value then bourgogne.
    As for new world, 80% of the wines produced are cheap, mediocre and just good for headaches as they are overly sweet and fruity (that refers to my tastebud point earlier).
    The remimainder generally costs as much as the French equivalent and quite often more…

• roger says:

  11 Dec11 December 06:16

  I will happily sell my 1m VS miles for this valuation!

  • Jonathan says:

    11 Dec11 December 07:23

    The offer is buy, not sell !

• Manya says:

  11 Dec11 December 07:11

  Why are the Bali flight timings less relevant from a UK perspective?

  • Rob says:

    11 Dec11 December 07:47

    Planning a weekend break in Bali?

    • Novice says:

      11 Dec11 December 08:09

      Who would fly so far for just a weekend though. Why not make it a multi island tour of Indonesia. So much to do/see there.

      • Rob says:

        11 Dec11 December 08:14

        Who do you think stays in the 3-star Maldives resorts? It’s UAE residents on a cheap weekend break.

• James says:

  11 Dec11 December 08:09

  As someone with a less sophisticated approach to wine this is not that exciting. I’d swig the gin miniatures straight from the bottle to get through a long haul economy.

  • Chrisasaurus says:

    11 Dec11 December 09:38

    Talking practically the effect on taste and smell at 33,000 is pretty significant

    Doesn’t mean you should give up and have bad wine, of course – but it won’t reach its full potential at altitude

    • Rhys says:

      11 Dec11 December 09:48

      Interesting you say this, as depending on who you ask the whole taste/smell thing varies. Eg. I remember CEO of Do&Co saying that the differences were massively overplayed, and indeed in my research for this Emirates piece they talk about convincing the French producers that drinking wine in an aircraft is no different to doing so at an alpine resort, in terms of cabin altitude.

• PeteM says:

  11 Dec11 December 09:00

  Czech Airlines indeed offer an impressive array of redemption opportunities – their two planes will fly you from Prague to Madrid and Paris and, randomly, Stansted for a few weeks around Christmas and New Year (when I assume the ACMI lease to Jet2 is on pause)! Sad sad end to an airline that used to fly numerous long-haul routes and 4x a day to LHR…

  • daveinitalia says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:25

    It’s funny that Czech Airlines is mentioned and not ITA unless there’s some integration issues between VS and AZ. Currently ITA are operating their new A321 neo between LHR and FCO which has 3 classes (business lie flat). It’s the first of their A321neo deliveries and was originally intended for the FCO-TLV route but for obvious reasons that didn’t happen. Maybe it’s worth a look to see if VS points can be redeemed on it while it’s still flying to Heathrow.

    • PeteM says:

      11 Dec11 December 10:51

      I saw a report on the new ITA 321 – looked amazing in J!

• Osagie says:

  11 Dec11 December 09:33

  Rob, FYI the Virgin Points individual 200,000 points (+140,000 bonus) can actually be doubled very easily. You can easily buy 200k points for yourself and then buy another 200k points as a gift for someone else’s account (e.g. wife or kids), and they too can buy 200k points for their accounts and also buy another 200k points as a gift for your account. The same “hack” also works for BAEC accounts.

• DarrenS says:

  11 Dec11 December 10:38

  This might seem an obvious question, but does buying Virgin Points with a Virgin+ card get 3 points/£?

  • Rob says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:39

    No, it goes through as points.com who are the back-end processor.

    • Jonathan says:

      11 Dec11 December 13:40

      So the same with Amex Gold ?

      • Rob says:

        11 Dec11 December 17:39

        Yes

• Andrew. says:

  11 Dec11 December 11:38

  Do all airlines follow the same methods and tip any open bottles down the sink at the end of each flight?

  Seems a bit of an ouch if it’s an £800 bottle of Cognac with a single serving.

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    11 Dec11 December 13:11

    I’ve only ever seen them pour wine down the sink not spirits.

    • flyoff says:

      11 Dec11 December 16:08

      Talking to the Qatar A380 bar staff they said they would be pouring away all of the open bottles. They use miniatures for the XO even though they display a full bottle at the bar. I would be interested if any airline land/takeoff with part bottles of wine and spirits.

  • the_real_a says:

    11 Dec11 December 19:25

    Any luck with getting a bottle “up your shirt”?

    • the_real_a says:

      11 Dec11 December 19:26

      Opened bottle i mean… To save wastage of course!

  • Ben says:

    11 Dec11 December 20:52

    I’ve washed my hands with LPGS and sugar at the end of a flight on the recommendation of the crew…it makes your skin very soft….but it felt wrong, even though it was going to be poured away.

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