时间机器上的味蕾享受

当笑容可掬的空姐轻声问您，要不要先来一杯顶级香槟开胃，再建议您挑选一款勃艮第特级园干白搭配前菜，然后挑选您出生年份的波尔多一级酒庄老酒搭配主菜，这一幕对选择借助公务机出行的精英人士来说已不再陌生。

当进行私人公务飞行时，根据客户喜好而制定的酒单就会大大地丰富起来。大白熊商务航空公司副总裁梁富华告诉本刊，关于公务机机上用酒，航空公司会根据自己所服务的客户情况，比如客人常飞的地点、航线、时刻、机上是否用餐以及客人的餐饮习惯和对酒的爱好，准备酒品。客户如有航空公司供应标准之外的酒类需求时，航空公司会尽量满足客户需要，为客人提供。“如果客户想自己携带珍藏的陈年珍酒上机饮用，则须经过安全检查。”梁富华说。

特别需要注意的是，在三万英尺的高空喝酒时，酒的口感也会发生改变。新西兰航空公司挑选葡萄酒的专家小组成员Jim Harre的一些研究表明，影响葡萄酒和人们对其口感的因素主要有三方面，包括：机舱内的低气压、机舱空气的干燥度和物流运输的影响。

英国最著名的葡萄酒品酒师之一Steven Spurrier认为，空中飞行时人们感受的变化远大于葡萄酒本身的变化。虽然目前还没有系统的研究能表明葡萄酒口感的这种变化到底是因酒的变化而起，还是人的味觉变化所致。但通常机舱高度要高于海平面，这就意味着机舱里的气压比海平面的气压低。气压降低会影响葡萄酒中的挥发成分，使它们比在海平面时蒸发得更快。而充足的挥发成分是葡萄酒闻起来有着浓郁果香的重要原因。因此基本上，这意味着通常葡萄酒中所具有的果香特质在这时就会稍逊一筹，不会像在地面上那么浓郁，故许多商业航空公司的葡萄酒顾问会寻找带有馥郁果香的葡萄酒来抵消海拔高度带来的影响。

空中品酒攻略

上飞机后，您可以先选择一杯香槟，作为开胃酒，舒缓精神；用餐时可根据菜品和喜好，选择红葡萄酒或白葡萄酒；餐后可以再来点消化酒，比如干邑，而且有助于入眠。单宁不宜过重：同样一瓶葡萄酒，在地上和万米高空饮用，口感会不同。由于高空中，机舱增压，空气干燥，人们通常会失去三分之一的嗅觉，味蕾也会“扭曲”酒体，人也更容易醉；对于葡萄酒来说，酸度和单宁会被强化，糖分和酒精的感觉则会减弱。因此地面上的好酒，在空中不一定是好酒，那些酸度过高，单宁过重的葡萄酒就不太适合。而且机舱内的气压会使橡木味更明显，因此橡木味浓的葡萄酒也不宜在飞机上饮用。

法籍波尔多葡萄酒学校认证讲师、WSET Diploma（4级）品酒师Julien Boulard向本刊解释道：“飞机机舱内的气压、噪音以及空气质量与地面上的截然不同。根据一些科学调查，噪音是飞机上影响食物味道的重要因素之一。有人把机舱内的噪音称作‘白色噪音’（white noise），由各种频率声音造成的，其中包括发动机持续不断的声音。试验证明在这种环境下入食，食物的咸味和甜味会降低，那么葡萄酒的果味也不例外。一些清淡的、优雅的葡萄酒可能会显得乏味，所以在飞机上饮用葡萄酒的人，更应该考虑选择一些果香突出的酒款。”

Julien Boulard建议，喜欢喝白葡萄酒的朋友可以考虑一些芳香型的葡萄酒，比如阿尔萨斯的琼瑶浆、麝香葡萄或者雷司令，由于它们的酒香非常浓郁，也经常保留一些糖分，Domaine Zind-Humbrecht的葡萄酒便是他的首选。如果不太习惯这种芳香型葡萄酒，可以考虑一些酿自于新世界的、酒体饱满、口感浓郁的霞多丽葡萄酒，比如新西兰的Mountford Estate Chardonnay或者澳大利亚的By Farr Chardonnay。以果香为主的智利葡萄酒也非常不错！比如说Cono Sur的Ocio Pinot Noir挺合适！或者任何一款美乐葡萄酒基本都不会错。偏爱法国红酒的朋友，可以考虑法国南部的酒！一款浓郁的Domaine de Trevallon应该挺合适！或者朗格多克-鲁西荣产区的一些浓郁型红葡萄酒。要选择起泡酒的话，那肯定是香槟，但在飞机上选择精致优雅的、由霞多丽葡萄酿成的白中白（Blanc de blancs）不是明智之举，应该选一些由黑比诺或比诺莫尼耶酿成的黑中白（Blanc de noirs）。由于味道更浓郁并且质感更黏稠，应该选择一些年份香槟。在地面上可能会选择优雅的Salon的人，在空中他更倾向于选择浓郁饱满的Krug。

并非每种酒的酒质在飞行时都保持良好。酒必须经受住飞行中偶尔产生的紊乱而不会变质和产生沉淀物。为了减少沉淀物的出现，要把需要换瓶的陈年酒酿特意排除在外，所选的全部都是满瓶装的新酒，以保证最佳的品酒体验。拥有私人飞机的朋友估计对稀有的老年份葡萄酒情有独钟，但是您要知道飞机上的颠簸会让瓶底的沉淀物混到酒液中，无法滗酒，故最好还是不要把您的珍藏佳酿常搁置在飞机上。

酒具也讲究

葡萄酒官方认证讲师、葡萄酒专栏作家徐伟告诉本刊：“飞机机场较干燥，而且震动大，使用的酒杯比较简单，比较适合即开即用，不需要醒酒，而且果味浓郁的葡萄酒，类似于长相思、美乐、黑皮诺、设拉子等葡萄酒都非常合适。”

除了机舱环境，飞机上的酒杯也很难令人满意，不但有的是以塑料制成，形状和容器也不适合品酒，轻轻摇晃，便有可能让往往斟得七分满的酒溢出杯子外。您可以选择奥利维尔·布西（Olivier Poussie）根据专业人士使用的品酒杯造型专为法航设计的新式酒杯。虽没有杯柄，但具有碗状曲线，在加强酒香的同时降低了单宁酸浓度，更加完美地适应了品酒需求和机上服务的限制条件。由于具有宽敞的氧化面，酒酿可以充分呼吸，并且酒香四溢。如果短时间内购买不到这种新式酒杯，恐怕只有自己揣一个大小适中的酒杯随身携带，否则机上的酒杯会是品酒时的一大障碍。

Julien Boulard还建议：“因为飞机上的各种颠簸、温度和气压变化、干燥的环境等，不要在飞机上存放太多葡萄酒。每次起飞前仅放旅行时所需瓶数即可。其次，需要有个专门用于储存葡萄酒的恒温柜。不要与其他食物放在一起，更不要把葡萄酒放在温度变化大的地方。因为白葡萄酒与起泡酒的饮用温度应该低于红葡萄酒，所以理想的恒温柜应该根据温度分成红葡萄酒区以及白葡萄酒区。”

徐伟也对本刊表示，葡萄酒储存上还需要注意恒温（10℃～15℃）和恒湿（60%～80%），如果条件有限，则应该尽量选用“耐力”较强的新年份葡萄酒。另外，由机舱内比较干燥，因此也可以考虑多使用螺旋盖密封的葡萄酒，因为螺旋盖密封性更好，因此不容易“漏气”而导致葡萄酒氧化。另外在饮用时，如果条件允许，可以使用无脚玻璃杯；如果条件有限也可以使用塑料杯，但是不要使用纸杯，因为纸杯的味道会破坏葡萄酒的香气和口感。

您还应该记住，要让这些葡萄的精华与众不同，提供服务的酒具至关重要——应选择合适的收口玻璃器皿以使葡萄酒的香味有效聚集到一起；采用合适的葡萄酒储存系统，并且最好使用玻璃酒瓶装盛。一些极为可口的波尔多红葡萄酒种类（尤其是解百纳为主的混合酒），特别是葡萄成熟度低的年份酒，可能不太适合您在飞行中享用。不过，在这个领域尝试和失败又何尝不是一种乐趣呢？

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.