In many ways, Business Traveler’s 2003 Airlines Wine Competition, held May 22 at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in Manhattan, shed light on these questions. The 30 wine judges may have been tasting at an altitude only slightly above sea level, but they brought not only their professional skills and some of this country’s best palates to the competition, they also brought their experience as business travelers.

Wine today is global and flourishing on every continent, and members of the wine trade are either seeking them, selling them or writing or lecturing about wines. One way or another, they are flying. They know wine on the high wire. So as they swirled, sniffed and sipped, they considered each wine for its innate quality at ground level and for its potential taste some six or more miles high in the sky.

With their broad experience comes educated opinion. “My work keeps me flying from city to city much of the year,” Bordeaux liaison Robin Kelley O’Connor said, “and I look forward to and usually get a good Champagne on international flights. And on those flights and on domestic flights, too, I often find a good selection of wines now that airlines are getting more adventurous and moving away from just Cabernet, Chardonnay and Merlot. I’m now being offered Syrah, Pinot Noir, Riesling and some from really outside the box such as wines from Languedoc.”

Other judges, though, feel the airborne beverage cart can be improved.

“I know airlines are suffering now,” Kurt Eckert, U.S. director of Krug Champagne, noted, “but why not view wine as an opportunity rather than an obligation. I think an investment in higher-quality wines would go a long way toward building customer loyalty and goodwill. The wines I’ve been served in flights have not been terrible, but for essentially the same cost, they could have been memorable. As the travel experience becomes more mundane, airlines that still attend to small details stand out. The announcement at the end of most flights reminds us that we have a choice in air travel. Great wines in-flight could influence that choice considerably.”

Wine educator Harriet Lembeck saw a need for better staff training. “Too often, the attendant comes down the aisle saying ‘Red or white?’ and cannot answer a single question beyond that. I expect more in business class.”

Writer and consultant Fred Ferretti, whose travels take him to Europe and Asia several times a year, looks for one thing above all in airline dining. “A lack of pretense,” he said. “Just serve good, well-made wine and food. Don’t try to impress me with gimmicks.”

Put those ideas together and consider this year’s winners. Since all wines at the competition are coded, tasters know only the type of wine. Thus, they judge the wine in the glass, not the label on the bottle. As usually happens, quality wins out.

Only about eight years ago, most of the wines in the competition were French. While they still lead submissions, accounting this year for 50 of the 138 wines entered by 27 airlines, there were also 25 American wines (23 from California, two from Oregon), 14 from Australia, eight each from Spain and New Zealand, seven each from Italy and South Africa, as well as wines from Chile, Germany, Switzerland, Argentina, Portugal and Mexico. So it is not surprising that this year’s top-scoring wines came not only from France but from Italy, Spain, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Chile, Argentina and California as well. Nevertheless, high-quality French wines are still a dominant force, as Thai Airways International so handily proved.

Thai Airways won the Best Cellar in the Sky award with a well-honed selection of wines from five regions of France: Alsace, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhône Valley and Champagne. Lufthansa German Airlines came in second with a selection of wines from Germany, Italy and France. Icelandair won third place with wines from New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and France.

James Rossbach, who has been in the wine trade for 25 years, commented that “In the dry air of an airplane, I look for wines that are fruity, forward, accessible and well-balanced. I wouldn’t want a particularly tannic wine in that atmosphere. It might be terrific in a restaurant, but in an airplane’s low humidity, it would come over as bitter and off-putting. Besides, whether I’m preparing for a meeting or unwinding after one, I’m not looking for a serious tasting when I fly. I’m looking for a well-made wine that gives pleasure.”

An idea exemplified by the competition’s highest-scoring white wine: Korean Air’s Pierre Sparr Grand Cru Mambourg Gewürztraminer from Alsace, a rich, spicy, aromatic wine. This winner was followed by second-place Mission Estate’s crisp Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, poured by ANA, All Nippon Airways; third place was Virgin Atlantic’s supple Colterenzio Pinot Bianco from Alto Adige, Italy.

Among sparkling wines, Champagne in all its varied glories—vintage and nonvintage—captured eight of the 10 Best Sparkling Wine spots with first place going to the nonvintage Duval-Leroy Fleur de Champagne Brut, now being served on Thai, Emirates and Lufthansa.

Finnair’s selection of Château La Pointe from Pomerol, France, was the top-rated red wine followed by a tie for second place between Malaysia Airlines’ Ross Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and SWISS International Air Lines’ Saltram Wine Estate Metala Shiraz Cabernet, both from Australia. Third place was another tie: Thai Airways’ Château Valoux from Pessac-Léognan, France, and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’ St. Supéry Atkinson House Cabernet Sauvignon, California.

It was a particularly tight race for the best wines served on domestic first class, finishing with two—Northwest Airlines and American Airlines—capturing all the winners’ spots. Northwest edged out American as top airline, top white with Réserve Sainte Foi Chardonnay from Languedoc, France, and top sparkler with the Spanish Cava, Paul Cheneau. American led the red wine category with Rodney Strong Cabernet Sauvignon, California.

Whether they are called wine, wein, vin or vino, then, the most satisfying wines are not necessarily the best-known, the most traditional or even the most expensive. They are more likely to be well-balanced, well-made wines that fit the occasion and meet the mood of the moment.

For at least one judge, however, airlines have not been providing that moment. “The trouble with most airline wine is that the bottle has been open too long or we’re served off vintages, especially Bordeaux, or the glasses are too small or the staff doesn’t know how to handle wine well,” says Italian wine specialist Charles Scicolone. So what does he, as a dedicated wine professional, do when he flies? “I bring my own wine—and glass.”