When it was confirmed that we would be accompanying two other couples to Washington D.C. in mid-October, I knew this was an opportunity for an in-flight wine tasting. The guys were already in D.C. for work the week prior, so the wives would be on the same outbound flight together. So, we booked our tickets and seats so that we could sit together, or as close together as possible, and I announced to my friends, Abby and Jesse, that we would be doing a wine tasting on board.
We were slightly disappointed to be flying Frontier Airlines as they typically lack luxury, however the price was so significantly cheaper that it was truly our only option. I’ll address my own opinion of Frontier Airlines below if you have not yet flown and are curious of the pro’s and con’s. When doing my pre-trip research, I learned that Frontier Airlines, a Denver-headquartered company, predominantly carries products local to Colorado. Specifically, many of their liquor options are produced by Breckenridge Distillery and wine options by The Infinite Monkey Theorem of Denver. I will most definitely be highlighting The Infinite Monkey Theorem again on this blog in the future because I truly love their wines. I am usually ignorantly biased to some of the larger wine producing areas, but Infinite Monkey Theorem is a wine blender who sources their grapes “from the Western slope of Colorado and High Plains of Texas” (infinitemonkeytheorem.com), and their Cab Franc is one of my absolute favorite wines right now. So, I was confident that this mid-air tasting was going to be excellent!
Gosh I feel like I’m Debbie Downer this week. Well…..turns out the only thing in stock was a Infinite Monkey Theorem White Wine blend (versus the advertised Chardonnay), with their Dry Hopped Pear Cider out of stock and replaced by a Wild Cider, a gluten free apple cider produced in Firestone, Colorado. Also replaced was the XO,G Red Blend with an Electric Sky Red Blend. Despite the disappointment, we OBVIOUSLY still conducted our official tasting.
I originally thought that one of each beverage would be sufficient for the tasting, but Abby set me straight and insisted that we order three of each beverage for each of us. Hence, why wine tasting on a plane results in drunk on a plane. Abby needed the extra drinks since she had just compared the quality of the flight experience to being “on the bus to Auschwitz” [insert eye roll here]. Abby seriously cracks me up!
As a group, we decided to start with the cider. Yea, it isn’t a wine, but the original intent was to taste the two Infinite Monkey Theorem options, but since the Dry Hopped Pear Cider was out, we stuck with the other cider option, so just go with it. So I will start with the positives: the Wild Cider is only 130 calories, 12 carbs, and 12 grams of sugar. That’s pretty reasonable for a drink you would assume is sugary and high in carbs and calories! Jesse found the cider quite refreshing! Unfortunately, Abby and I weren’t thrilled with the other factors: we agreed that it lacked depth in flavor and could use a little more tartness.
So we moved on to the Infinite Monkey Theorem White Wine. Let me first say that we did not all drink ALL of our ciders to start, we just opened one for tasting and agreed we would go back to them after the official tasting. So, unfortunately, the can that the White Wine was served in did not state the actual blend percentages of the White Wine, but after reviewing their website, it is described as “Loads of upfront starfruit on the nose with white peach, citrus and cardamom following. The light carbonation lifts the citrus fruits on the palate to a smooth and refreshing finish. Special feature: Shotgunnable (ask anyone!).” I really wish I would have seen that “Shotgunnable” evaluation because that may have been quite a memorable experience on the plane. Anyway, we were all surprised by the carbonation – in a good way! The fruitiness was definitely prominent but was a little on the sweeter side of a wine than any of us would prefer. It was still a pleasant surprise for an in-flight wine!
The third tasting was SUPPOSED the XO,G Red Blend – which I was excited to try since it’s one of Juliana Rancic’s BUT, instead they had the Electric Sky Red Blend. Don’t worry – it’s still worked out in our favor! I was certain that this was not going to be any good – we asked our flight attendant which one she thought we would like the best and she said the Electric Sky. She was right! It’s actually a good red blend! I would compare it to a lot of the common wines that you can find across the country in grocery stores and mainstream liquor stores such as Apothic Red or Menage Trois. It’s a fruity red wine that tastes young, but it was the unanimous favorite among the three of us!
So there you have it – the Electric Sky Red Blend was the winner, close second was the Infinite Monkey Theorem White Wine with Wild Cider trailing (which really doesn’t count since it’s not a wine).
So, to sum up my experience, if being “tortured” by flying Frontier Airlines, there are some wine options that may make your experience more enjoyable! Let me know if you choose to do a wine tasting on your next flight!
*My opinion of Frontier Airlines: I have elected to predominantly fly Frontier Airlines in the recent past since we have had children. The prices are so significantly more affordable when buying 3 or 4 plane tickets and since their hub is located in Denver, we can often find direct flights to our destination. I have found that I am uncomfortable flying with children on ANY airline – so why not save some money while I’m uncomfortable? And what makes Frontier better than other discount airlines such as Southwest, is that you have assigned seating (even if you have to pay for it). A huge bonus for active duty military is that they waive all baggage fees. That’s just my two cents.