With international flights grounded and travel plans on hold, avid travelers are eagerly looking for creative ways to experience the world from the comforts of home. For those out of ideas, Emirates presents an option: become a wine and food expert!
Emirates serves some of the finest wines in the world, chosen by a team of sommeliers, and its wine cellar is the largest of any airline. Located in France, it boasts a capacity of 7.4 million bottles of wine! Emirates’ wine specialists have compiled a comprehensive global wine guide available on Emirates Wine Channel. Through engaging video tutorials, Oliver Dixon, Emirates Senior Wine Specialist, talks about some of the most exclusive wines onboard and the extraordinary twist they give to every journey.
A Few Favorites and a Guide to Enjoying Them
- Tignanello 2010, Tuscany, Italy – Produced by the famous Antinori winemaking family, Tignanello was the first red wine from the Chianti region to be blended with non-traditional varieties and the first to step outside regulations that are based on generations of tradition. Dixon recommends waiting until this vintage is at least eight years old to reach its optimum potential. At that point, you’ll be able to detect the wine’s rich aromas of cherry and crushed stone fruits. This wine is best served with chicken, red meat or pasta.
- Cervaro della Sala 2015, Umbria, Italy – Also from Antinori, this extraordinary wine was first marketed in 1987. Combining the internationally planted Chardonnay variety and the Italian-local variety Grechetto, it is one of the leading whites from Italy, more precisely the region of Umbria. According to Dixon the wine boasts a delicious, fresh flavor. One can taste the “fresh stone fruits like peaches and nectarine with the oak in the background,” he says.
- Don Melchor 2012, Puente Alto, Chile – Just outside of Santiago de Chile in the foothills of the Andes Mountains lies the Concha y Toro family vineyard producing Don Melchor. Based on the Cabernet Sauvignon grape it is one of the most iconic red wines of Chile. “The altitude of the vineyard at 650 meters requires a different production process from basic reds, for example from Bordeaux, where they are cultivated at an altitude between 30 and 100 meters”, explains Dixon. The Chilean wine scores with a big but not over the top structure and its purity of fruit combines easily with roasted chicken or red meat.
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Wine & Food Pairings Courtesy of EM
More Guides for Emirates Wine and Dine Club
Check out the Emirates Wine Channel for the complete educational wine tour and learn how to become a wine connoisseur virtually. The Wine Channel features a documentary on Emirates’ wine buying strategy and the direct relationships it has cultivated with the world’s finest winemakers to procure exclusive vintages.
If culinary matters are more your thing, check out the Emirates Food Channel which showcases the details that go into menu development by Emirates Chefs, including ingredient sourcing for onboard meals. The airline serves about 110 million meals each year with the same attention to detail in First, Business and Economy classes. Each episode explores how the airline brings some of the finest products on board through long-standing partnerships worldwide, including local suppliers and artisans.
The episodes also feature recipes from its regionally inspired menus so viewers can recreate the airlines’ signature dishes at home. The recipes can also be found on emirates.com but the channels give viewers access to their catering philosophy and strategy.
Right now, it’s all about learning new skills to pivot and impress your friends at your next ZOOM dinner party. Bon Appétit!