時間機器上的味蕾享受

當笑容可掬的空姐輕聲問您，要不要先來一杯頂級香檳開胃，再建議您挑選一款勃艮第特級園干白搭配前菜，然后挑選您出生年份的波爾多一級酒莊老酒搭配主菜，這一幕對選擇借助公務機出行的精英人士來說已不再陌生。

當進行私人公務飛行時，根據客戶喜好而制定的酒單就會大大地豐富起來。大白熊商務航空公司副總裁梁富華告訴本刊，關于公務機機上用酒，航空公司會根據自己所服務的客戶情況，比如客人常飛的地點、航線、時刻、機上是否用餐以及客人的餐飲習慣和對酒的愛好，準備酒品?？蛻羧缬泻娇展竟獦藴手獾木祁愋枨髸r，航空公司會盡量滿足客戶需要，為客人提供。“如果客戶想自己攜帶珍藏的陳年珍酒上機飲用，則須經過安全檢查。”梁富華說。

特別需要注意的是，在三萬英尺的高空喝酒時，酒的口感也會發生改變。新西蘭航空公司挑選葡萄酒的專家小組成員Jim Harre的一些研究表明，影響葡萄酒和人們對其口感的因素主要有三方面，包括：機艙內的低氣壓、機艙空氣的干燥度和物流運輸的影響。

英國最著名的葡萄酒品酒師之一Steven Spurrier認為，空中飛行時人們感受的變化遠大于葡萄酒本身的變化。雖然目前還沒有系統的研究能表明葡萄酒口感的這種變化到底是因酒的變化而起，還是人的味覺變化所致。但通常機艙高度要高于海平面，這就意味著機艙里的氣壓比海平面的氣壓低。氣壓降低會影響葡萄酒中的揮發成分，使它們比在海平面時蒸發得更快。而充足的揮發成分是葡萄酒聞起來有著濃郁果香的重要原因。因此基本上，這意味著通常葡萄酒中所具有的果香特質在這時就會稍遜一籌，不會像在地面上那么濃郁，故許多商業航空公司的葡萄酒顧問會尋找帶有馥郁果香的葡萄酒來抵消海拔高度帶來的影響。

空中品酒攻略

上飛機后，您可以先選擇一杯香檳，作為開胃酒，舒緩精神；用餐時可根據菜品和喜好，選擇紅葡萄酒或白葡萄酒；餐后可以再來點消化酒，比如干邑，而且有助于入眠。單寧不宜過重：同樣一瓶葡萄酒，在地上和萬米高空飲用，口感會不同。由于高空中，機艙增壓，空氣干燥，人們通常會失去三分之一的嗅覺，味蕾也會“扭曲”酒體，人也更容易醉；對于葡萄酒來說，酸度和單寧會被強化，糖分和酒精的感覺則會減弱。因此地面上的好酒，在空中不一定是好酒，那些酸度過高，單寧過重的葡萄酒就不太適合。而且機艙內的氣壓會使橡木味更明顯，因此橡木味濃的葡萄酒也不宜在飛機上飲用。

法籍波爾多葡萄酒學校認證講師、WSET Diploma（4級）品酒師Julien Boulard向本刊解釋道：“飛機機艙內的氣壓、噪音以及空氣質量與地面上的截然不同。根據一些科學調查，噪音是飛機上影響食物味道的重要因素之一。有人把機艙內的噪音稱作‘白色噪音’（white noise），由各種頻率聲音造成的，其中包括發動機持續不斷的聲音。試驗證明在這種環境下入食，食物的咸味和甜味會降低，那么葡萄酒的果味也不例外。一些清淡的、優雅的葡萄酒可能會顯得乏味，所以在飛機上飲用葡萄酒的人，更應該考慮選擇一些果香突出的酒款。”

Julien Boulard建議，喜歡喝白葡萄酒的朋友可以考慮一些芳香型的葡萄酒，比如阿爾薩斯的瓊瑤漿、麝香葡萄或者雷司令，由于它們的酒香非常濃郁，也經常保留一些糖分，Domaine Zind-Humbrecht的葡萄酒便是他的首選。如果不太習慣這種芳香型葡萄酒，可以考慮一些釀自于新世界的、酒體飽滿、口感濃郁的霞多麗葡萄酒，比如新西蘭的Mountford Estate Chardonnay或者澳大利亞的By Farr Chardonnay。以果香為主的智利葡萄酒也非常不錯！比如說Cono Sur的Ocio Pinot Noir挺合適！或者任何一款美樂葡萄酒基本都不會錯。偏愛法國紅酒的朋友，可以考慮法國南部的酒！一款濃郁的Domaine de Trevallon應該挺合適！或者朗格多克-魯西榮產區的一些濃郁型紅葡萄酒。要選擇起泡酒的話，那肯定是香檳，但在飛機上選擇精致優雅的、由霞多麗葡萄釀成的白中白（Blanc de blancs）不是明智之舉，應該選一些由黑比諾或比諾莫尼耶釀成的黑中白（Blanc de noirs）。由于味道更濃郁并且質感更黏稠，應該選擇一些年份香檳。在地面上可能會選擇優雅的Salon的人，在空中他更傾向于選擇濃郁飽滿的Krug。

并非每種酒的酒質在飛行時都保持良好。酒必須經受住飛行中偶爾產生的紊亂而不會變質和產生沉淀物。為了減少沉淀物的出現，要把需要換瓶的陳年酒釀特意排除在外，所選的全部都是滿瓶裝的新酒，以保證最佳的品酒體驗。擁有私人飛機的朋友估計對稀有的老年份葡萄酒情有獨鐘，但是您要知道飛機上的顛簸會讓瓶底的沉淀物混到酒液中，無法潷酒，故最好還是不要把您的珍藏佳釀常擱置在飛機上。

酒具也講究

葡萄酒官方認證講師、葡萄酒專欄作家徐偉告訴本刊：“飛機機場較干燥，而且震動大，使用的酒杯比較簡單，比較適合即開即用，不需要醒酒，而且果味濃郁的葡萄酒，類似于長相思、美樂、黑皮諾、設拉子等葡萄酒都非常合適。”

除了機艙環境，飛機上的酒杯也很難令人滿意，不但有的是以塑料制成，形狀和容器也不適合品酒，輕輕搖晃，便有可能讓往往斟得七分滿的酒溢出杯子外。您可以選擇奧利維爾·布西（Olivier Poussie）根據專業人士使用的品酒杯造型專為法航設計的新式酒杯。雖沒有杯柄，但具有碗狀曲線，在加強酒香的同時降低了單寧酸濃度，更加完美地適應了品酒需求和機上服務的限制條件。由于具有寬敞的氧化面，酒釀可以充分呼吸，并且酒香四溢。如果短時間內購買不到這種新式酒杯，恐怕只有自己揣一個大小適中的酒杯隨身攜帶，否則機上的酒杯會是品酒時的一大障礙。

Julien Boulard還建議：“因為飛機上的各種顛簸、溫度和氣壓變化、干燥的環境等，不要在飛機上存放太多葡萄酒。每次起飛前僅放旅行時所需瓶數即可。其次，需要有個專門用于儲存葡萄酒的恒溫柜。不要與其他食物放在一起，更不要把葡萄酒放在溫度變化大的地方。因為白葡萄酒與起泡酒的飲用溫度應該低于紅葡萄酒，所以理想的恒溫柜應該根據溫度分成紅葡萄酒區以及白葡萄酒區?！?/p>

徐偉也對本刊表示，葡萄酒儲存上還需要注意恒溫（10℃～15℃）和恒濕（60%～80%），如果條件有限，則應該盡量選用“耐力”較強的新年份葡萄酒。另外，由于飛機艙內比較干燥，因此也可以考慮多使用螺旋蓋密封的葡萄酒，因為螺旋蓋密封性更好，因此不容易“漏氣”而導致葡萄酒氧化。另外在飲用時，如果條件允許，可以使用無腳玻璃杯；如果條件有限也可以使用塑料杯，但是不要使用紙杯，因為紙杯的味道會破壞葡萄酒的香氣和口感。

您還應該記住，要讓這些葡萄的精華與眾不同，提供服務的酒具至關重要——應選擇合適的收口玻璃器皿以使葡萄酒的香味有效聚集到一起；采用合適的葡萄酒儲存系統，并且最好使用玻璃酒瓶裝盛。一些極為可口的波爾多紅葡萄酒種類（尤其是解百納為主的混合酒），特別是葡萄成熟度低的年份酒，可能不太適合您在飛行中享用。不過，在這個領域嘗試和失敗又何嘗不是一種樂趣呢？

Imagine a smiling stewardess greets you with a selection of prestige champagne， followed by a Grand Cru Classe Burgundy Blanc for your entree， and a top Bordeaux vintage from the year of your birth for the main course. If you are business jet flyer， this would not look unfamiliar to you.

As business jet welcomes more customers， the in-flight wine list gets longer. Liang Fuhua， Vice President of Big White Bear Jet CO. Ltd told U-jet， airlines prepare wines based on destination， air route， schedule， meal served， and diet and drinking habit of its customers. They would also go the extra mile to meet additional requests. “Customers can bring their own vintage on board. All it takes is a security check.”

It is worth noting that wine tastes different at 30，000 feet. Jim Harre， a member of the panel that selects wine for Air New Zealand finds out in his work that there are three main effects on wine and our sensory perception of it –reduced cabin pressure， dryness of the cabin air， and the impact of logistics on the wine.

Is it wine that’s changing at altitude then？ One of the UK’s best-known wine commentators， Steven Spurrier believes it is the person who changes more than the wine does. Little structured research has been completed on this， but it is widely recognized that air pressure in the cabin is lower than on the ground as cabin altitude is normally higher than the sea level. At reduced pressure， the abundant volatile compounds that give wine a fruity aroma evaporate faster. To counteract the effects of altitude， many commercial airline wine consultants look for overtly fruity wines

Select wisely

Once on board， you may first have a glass of champagne to relax and stimulate your appetite， followed by a red or white wine you like to complement the meal， and after that， a Cognac to cozy you into sleep. In-flight wines should not be rich in tannin. In a pressurized and dry cabin high up in the air where 1/3 of your smell is impaired and your palate may distort the texture of wine， you could easily get drunk as the sweetness and alcohol in wine is masked by enhanced tannin and acid. A good wine on ground is therefore not necessarily good at high altitude. Wines with heavy corky taste are also not recommended on board as pressurized air makes the smell even stronger.

Bordeaux Wine School certified lecturer and WSET Diploma sommelier Julien Boulard offered his explanation： “The pressure， noise and air quality in the aircraft cabin is completely different from that on the ground. Some research show that in-flight noise is one of the key factors affecting the taste of food on board. Some name it ‘white noise’， which is a mixture of sounds， including the constant rumbling of aircraft engines. It is proven that in a cabin environment， food loses its sweetness and saltiness while wine loses its fruity flavor. Light and elegant wines tend to lose its charm on board while intense and aromatic wines feature strongly.”

For lovers of whites， Julien recommends aromatic vintages such as Gewurztraminer， Muscat d‘Alsace， and Riesling， or his choice， Domaine Zind-Humbrecht， which is aroma-rich with the right amount of sweetness. If aromatic is not what you like， some intense new world Chardonnay wines are also tasty alternatives— Mountford Estate Chardonnay from New Zealand， By Farr Chardonnay from Australia， Ocio Pinot Noir of Cono Sur from Chile， or any variety of Merlot. For red wine lovers， vintages from Southern France wineries such as Domaine de Trevallon， or from Languedoc-Roussillon wineries are all good choices. For sparkling wine， nothing is better than Champagne. At altitude， it would be wiser to have Blanc de noirs made from dark-skinned Pinot noir or Pinot Meunier than the more elegant Chardonnay Blanc de blancs. An elegant Salon may suit well on the ground， but a richer Krug tastes better on board.

Not every wine can remain stable during flying. To offer the best wine tasting experience on board， bottled young wines that would not easily precipitate are often preferred over aged ones. If you are into older and rarer wines， it is also advisable to bring them on board， because precipitation at the bottom of bottles could be stirred up during flight turbulence， affecting the texture of the wine.

Drinkware matters

Accredited wine educator and columnist Xu Wei told U-Jet： “In view of the dryness in aircraft and at airports， vibration during flight， and the simple wares wines are served， it is not necessary to aerate wines on board. Wines with mellow fruity aroma like Sauvignon， Merlot， Pinot， and Shiraz are all suitable choices.”

More often than not， in-flight glasses are not suitable for serving wines， some are even made of plastic， making it impossible to tilt or swirl without spilling wine out. To rid this nuisance， you may acquire some of Air France’s in-flight glass designed by Olivier Poussie. Meeting taste requirements and suitable for service on board， the sleek， curved glass enhances the wine's flavor and improves the adherence capacity of the tannins on the glass surface. With a large oxygenation surface that helps aerate the wine， all the flavors in the glass come through clearly. However， if it does not come by immediately， you may have to bring along a suitable wine glass for better enjoyment.

\"As aircraft is subject to turbulence， dryness， changes in temperature and pressure， it is not advised to keep a big stock of wine on board，” says Julien Boulard， “enough bottles for each flight would be OK. Wines should be kept in a wine fridge separate from other beverages or food. Ideally， a wine fridge should have separate compartments for red wine and white one， because white and sparkling wine are best served at a lower temperature than red wine. \"

Xu Wei also suggests that wine should be kept in constant temperature（10°C-15°C）and humidity （60%-80%）. If not possible， \"durable\" younger wines should be selected. Screwcaps also help prevent oxygenation. Whenever possible， wines should be served at least in a stemless glass if not wine glass， or a plastic cup， but never in a paper cup， as its smell would spoil the flavor and texture of wine.

Remember， too， that the accoutrements of wine service are critical to make the essence of the grape special and different—suitable decanters that tapers in towards the rim so the wine’s aroma is effectively captured， suitable wine preservation systems， and glass wares. Some of the fine Bordeaux red wines， in particular cabernet blend wines produced in years of low grape maturity might not be suitable for in-flight enjoyment. But why not try and discover it yourself. It never hurts to be adventurous in wine tasting.