Board an Oakland, California-bound JetBlue Airbus 320 at JFK these days and you're likely to be offered a 187-ml of 3 Blind Moose Merlot to complement your spicy Doritos Munchies Mix. Priced at five dollars, the varietal is one of a pair selected by Best Cellars, Inc. co-founder Joshua Wesson and is currently being featured in the airline's all-economy cabins on all routes as part of a rotation that should last about six months.

Best Cellars, Inc. co-founder Joshua Wesson

The 3 Blind Moose 2005 California Chardonnay and 2004 California Merlot, which are produced by Canandaigua, New York-based Centerra Wine Company, Inc., are the third in-flight duo selected by Wesson for New York City-based JetBlue Airways since he began working with the low-fare carrier as its "low-fare sommelier" in late 2005. Wesson's first selection, which boarded in December 2005, was Pacific Wine Partners' Twin Fin 2004 California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir--the first time a Pinot Noir was featured in economy class. In 2006, he chose Just's Languedoc Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. (Both Pacific Wine Partners and Centerra Wine Company are part of Constellation Wines U.S.)

Caring about coach

"Most airlines don't care about people in coach; they're really interested in first class and the frequent flyers in the first few rows of coach," said Eric Brinker, JetBlue's director of brand management and customer experience who says the airline is the first to focus on wine specifically for the coach environment. "Our approach is really different. We're trying to break the mold of how it's done."

Brinker estimated that roughly 5 percent of passengers enroute to the carrier's 50 destination cities are currently purchasing the wine and said he expects the take-up rate to rise.

"Traditionally, coach cabin wine is a throwaway," said Wesson whose chain of seven retail stores is also featuring 3 Blind Moose on the ground. "My charge was to lift the quality of wines served and to give people a business class wine experience in coach."

To fully execute a successful sell-through, Wesson conducts wine training sessions for the in-flight service staff at a JetBlue training facility in Orlando, Florida, and has written light-hearted profiles of the wines, including tasting notes and snack pairing suggestions (Terra Blues potato chips with 3 Blind Moose Chardonnay) that appear in short video presentations that air on individual screens embedded in airline seat backs.

In addition to complementing the salty snacks offered onboard, Wesson says the two varietals have proven their versatility in pairing with a wide assortment of airport meals people bring on planes, including pan pizzas from Pizza Hut and Taco Bell burritos with chicken and mole sauce.

"We call the 3 Blind Moose Chardonnay the Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Chardonnay because it makes peace with a wild variety of flavors."

Wesson said he suspects the program will have a "salubrious effect on wine carried by other carriers," adding, "The airline business is a very competitive business."

Marketing in the Sky

"More and more of our suppliers are using the airlines as a vehicle to market to the public," said Brett Dunne, vice president and wine division general manager at Southern Wine & Spirits of New York, which handles the JetBlue account for 3 Blind Moose. "They have a captive audience on flights, and it's a great vehicle to introduce a brand or introduce a new package."

Dunne said the wine choices airlines are making reflect the general up-tick in wine sales overall.

"There's been an overall upgrade in quality, not only in first class but also in economy," said Dunne whose company approaches airlines as though they were national restaurant chain accounts.

While it may be unique in its focus on economy class, JetBlue is not the only airline to be infusing new vigor into its in-flight wine program. American Airlines just signed a deal with Dallas-based wine consultant and educator Diane Teitelbaum. Delta Air Lines announced an exclusive partnership with MS Andrea Robinson (formerly Immer) at this week's Aspen Food & Wine
Classic. Beginning this fall, Immer will select wines for the airline's international business class known as BusinessElite. In
2008, she will expand her reach to Delta's international Coach and domestic First and Coach cabins.

Selection Process

Wine consultant and educator Doug Frost has been collaborating with United Airlines in its wine selections for the last five or six years. He says he has gradually convinced the airline to migrate away from the 50 percent California, 50 percent France program that existed before his arrival to an equal representation of offerings from New World wine regions and Old World regions.

"I have never felt any hesitancy from United to find really, really good wines," said Frost who typically begins each program with 200 contenders. "I believe today's consumer is extremely sophisticated, so we have to keep growing the program."

Together with a tasting panel consisting of United's corporate chef and executives from onboard planning and purchasing, Frost winnows the group of 200 down to 75 labels for the year. The 2007 program includes Pol Roger Brut and Heidsieck Monopole Cuvee Diamant 1996 in first class, as well as a 2002 St. Supéry Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2002 Benziger Merlot, a 2002 Domaine Champy Beaune Vieille Vignes and a 2005 Jaboulet Gigondas, among others.

He eliminates wines with especially high alcohol levels or excessive tannins.

"You don't need to exacerbate the effect of high altitude with high alcohol," he said, adding that another challenge is that he must select wines 12 or more months in advance of when they might be boarded. "I need to make a prognostication as to what it's going to look like and smell like 18 months from now."

Mitch Gross, manager of product planning and procedures for United, oversees six two-month wine cycles each year for the airline and says that in first class international service alone, the airline can sell through 900 cases of a single wine in a month.

Depending on the laws in the state where wines are boarded, orders are placed either directly by the airline to the winery or channeled through a distributor. In some cases, airline caterers must make deliveries onto the plane along with food items. According to the Transportation Security Administration, the inspection of catered goods, either wine or food, is the responsibility of the individual carrier.

According to Gross, United will soon resume a consulting relationship with chef Charlie Trotter whose menus will begin appearing on international flights in July and domestically in September.

"I can't envision a premium cabin experience being complete without the appropriate wines," said Gross.

Eric Wente, a fourth generation winemaker and the chairman of Wente Vineyards in Livermore, California, says his company is currently selling both 187s of Hayes Ranch and 750s of Wente Chardonnay and Tamas Estates Chardonnay to United Airlines as well as 187s of Bernal Estates Cabernet Sauvignon and Pacific Vista Pinot Grigio to American.

"If the capacity is available, we're able to earn back our overhead," said Wente whose company broke into the air transport sector more than 30 years ago. He says he's recently noticed that airlines have a new confidence in California wine. "If it's a long vintage, the airlines are an additional channel in which to sell it."

Wente developed both Bernal Estates and Pacific Vista exclusively for the airline market and estimates it sells between 250 and 8,000 cases per quarter to the airline depending on routes and season.

"It's all about how many impressions you can get in the face of the consumer," said Richard Plutzer, district sales manager for Empire Merchants, the New York-based Charmer Sunbelt Group division that handles all New York area airports. "I don't think wine is ever going to go the way of in-flight food; it's a profit center for the airline." wbm

Suzanne Gannon is a New York-based freelance writer specializing in food, wine, travel and culture. Previously she spent several years in the wine business in New York and California.