Indulging in a glass or two of wine on a plane might be the only route for frequent flyers to preserve their sanity until they touch down. But how do vintners get their labels onto a carrier’s wine menu? Wouldn’t a cozy seat and stiff drink be nice on that long flight across the pond? This summer, for just a little bit extra, the posh amenities of business class can be yours. Lesley Townsend believed that setting up a festival for cocktail aficionados could stir up the spirits industry. She wound up creating a new business model. Welcome to the 2011 Manhattan Cocktail Classic. 
Every time that young moguls board a flight, vintners have an opportunity to sell them on their latest tastes, grape combinations, and aromas.
“A young entrepreneur traveling first class or business who’s been drinking Shiraz for the past 12 months might try a Malbec for the first time while on a plane and find he likes it,” says Mark O’Sullivan, president of Michael J. Devine & Associates, a wine brokerage specializing in providing wines to airlines and cruise ships globally, based in Manhattan Beach, California, with a satellite office in Lighthouse Point, Florida.
But in sharp contrast with the mellow downtime associated with enjoying a nice drink, for a vintage to make it onto a wine menu in the sky depends on hardcore factors: budgets, volumes, labels, packaging, and even the type of plane and its equipment.
“Airlines are very conscious of the fact that, as more travelers become increasingly wine savvy, they can’t put just any wine on a menu,” says O’Sullivan.
Cyril Penn, editor of the trade publication , adds that many wineries feel that, although airlines are a viable customer, they are often something of a dumping ground for excess inventory, given the low prices airlines pay for the stuff. “Selling wine to an airline can be a great product-placement exercise and a way to introduce consumers to your wine, but it’s a double-edged sword,” he says.
It’s also a two-way street.
“For wineries that produce the quantity of wine that the airlines require, getting your wine into an airline’s portfolio is like finding the holy grail,” says Jennifer Massolo, executive director of the annual Miami International Wine Fair, which happens this September. “It’s like an endorsement because so few wines get chosen. The presence of airlines’ wine buyers at our event is so important to a wine producer that we note those buyers’ names and affiliations on our promotional material.” (MIWF reimburses airlines’ buyers and experts for attending.)
Not surprisingly, airlines hire experts to help choose what they’ll feature—wines in both domestic and international first and business class tend to get rotated every two or three months.
Delta uses sommelier Andrea Robinson, who this week presides over the wine-selection process for the carrier’s 2012 roster. United relies on the expertise of sommelier and master of wine Doug Frost. Other airlines use consultants or their in-house “tasting panel of executives,” says O’Sullivan, who underscores that these different experts have different tastes. “A panel might love a particular Zinfandel but might pass on it because, at the end of the day, it’s chocolate and vanilla for the vast majority of travelers.”
Airlines often issue tenders to wine brokers that clearly lay out the specifics of what they’re looking for: type of wine, quantity, delivery times, and range of price the airlines will pay. “They use a rifle approach, rather than a shotgun approach,” says O’Sullivan. Then it’s up to the airlines to decide. “Airlines want a perfect match of wine with their needs,” he explains.
“What’s important to remember is that airlines do such a high-volume business that not every wine producer qualifies,” he says, noting that in the past eight months, wine producers’ inventories are lower—airlines’ competitors are often high- and mid-range restaurant chains, such as Morton’s The Steakhouse, Olive Garden, and Outback Steakhouse—which makes for more-spirited bargaining. “We’ve seen a slowdown in spot-market opportunities involving overproduction,” he says.
Wine producers chosen to provide huge quantities of 187 ml-size bottles in the “one red, one white” economy section of domestic and international flights—each sells for between $5 and $7 a pop—tend to have long-term contracts. The scenario changes on first- and business-class sections of international flights: There’s often a selection of two whites, two reds, and a champagne vintage, and for good reason.
“Airlines want to keep high-profile passengers traveling internationally who have paid $10,000 for a seat satisfied so they’ll buy another $10,000 seat, and wine can be part of that satisfaction,” says O’Sullivan, noting the wines featured in first and business class, especially on long-distance flights, tend to be more upscale. Massolo refers to the wines beyond economy class, which focus on less common varietals, as part of an “upward sliding scale of price point and exclusivity.”
The wine selections also differ based on the personality of the airlines. A carrier with regular flights to, say, New Zealand, may feature one of that country’s sauvignon blancs when headed to that destination. Other airlines, like Australia’s Qantas or Italy’s Alitalia, only serve wines native to those countries. British Airways, with a profitable route across the Atlantic, likes featuring U.S. wines.
No matter where their travels take them, it’s likely that entrepreneurs will have the occasion to try a wine or two that they’re not familiar with, although it might be pushing it to think they’ll find the wine of their dreams when aloft. O’Sullivan suggests that a jaunt in first class or business might be a good time to expand your oenophilic horizons. “If the wine you’re having invites a second glass, then consider it a good one,” he says.
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