Which Wines Suffer Least from Travel Shock (only for those who believe in it please)

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

@Mark_Y

Exactly. it’s mostly in people’s head. If you’re sipping cedric bouchard on a beach in tahiti, how bad can it really be?

I dunno, a very disappointing '88 Krug in a sky suite in Tokyo was pretty bad.

[Mark_Y]

@Sarah_Kirschbaum

@Mark_Y

Exactly. it’s mostly in people’s head. If you’re sipping cedric bouchard on a beach in tahiti, how bad can it really be?

I dunno, a very disappointing '88 Krug in a sky suite in Tokyo was pretty bad.

Oh definitely… however consider:

1. was the btl flawed to begin with? u’ll never know?
2. probably didn’t go bad from the flight anyways?
3. you’re in a sky suite in tokyo - life is good!

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

Mark, as I wrote earlier - I make this decision based on dozens and dozens of disappointing bottles. The Krug was just one that sprang to mind to counter your Bouchard-on-the-beach point. It is unrealistic that every single one of them, over years and years, was flawed to begin with. All the evidence of my palate suggests some wines consistently don’t show well after flying. I prefer to now bring wine that I have more reason to believe won’t detract from my vacation.

[Mark_Y]

@Sarah_Kirschbaum

Mark, as I wrote earlier - I make this decision based on dozens and dozens of disappointing bottles. The Krug was just one that sprang to mind to counter your Bouchard-on-the-beach point. It is unrealistic that every single one of them, over years and years, was flawed to begin with. All the evidence of my palate suggests some wines consistently don’t show well after flying. I prefer to now bring wine that I have more reason to believe won’t detract from my vacation.

Sarah, absolutely, i understand. My post wasn’t meant to deny your experiences as false, nor suggest you should do anything differently.

Does it surprise me that many many bottles of bubbly over years and years become flawed due to travel? it does b/c it’s counter to the dozens and dozens of btls from my own experiences. But that doesn’t mean what you experienced isn’t true, or at least isn’t perceived as true. consider what i wrote just as someone offering another data point.

[Dan_Sch]

You can always send them ahead and pick them up from me on arrival if you want.

[Dan_Sch]

Right. Thing is I know what stuff should taste like and it is disappointing no matter the surroundings. Honestly would be happier drinking a beer that tastes as it should than a wine that falls surprisingly flat on its face

[Karl_K]

Corollary to this would be ship wherever you’re going, if you know in advance, to be able to let the bottles settle.

[Warren_Taranow]

Just arrived in Maui. I’m planning some “research” for the Journal of Anecdotal Vinous Sciences.

[Mark_Y]

Boy Warren. That looks like a lot of disappointment.

[alan_weinberg]

@M.Kaplan

whether it is the wine or me that is affected by air travel is a distinction without a difference

buy a bottle at destination and you have an answer. If it’s the wine, you can resume enjoying other bottles.

[Rodrigo_B]

I’ve been thinking about the travel shock issue for the last few days and different ways to conduct some more extensive tests around it for fun and to satisfy my own curiosities in a more extensive manner.

Currently the idea is to grab 2 bottles from the same case of 3-6 different wines. Travel with one set to and from a work trip and then conduct some triangle tests with the travelled and non-travelled bottles with some friends. For now the plan is to have champagne, red and white burgundy, maybe some others.