We got onto the plane, and quickly settled in.  I prepared for a long night of very little sleep and a lot of aggravation—simply because I get very aggravated when I get very little sleep.  The boys, on the other hand, love flying, mostly because of the free and unlimited television.  We try very hard to limit their T.V. consumption to just a couple hours a week and only on the weekends, but they know that on the plane all bets are off.  Basically, we allow them to destroy their little minds all they like as long as they don’t cause others to see us as ‘those parents’—the ones that have absolutely no control over their kids.  We harbor no illusions, we are indeed ‘those parents’ but there is no need to display it on a 7 hour overseas flight.

Ever since the supposed economic hardship of the airlines following 9/11, more and more perks have disappeared.  I will not go into all of that since far more clever people have done it already (with absolutely no apparent effect, for what it’s worth).  No, the single biggest issue I have is that the free wine (and beer, I guess) on inter-continental flights has disappeared.  Being a ‘Wine Guy’ and an aspiring alcoholic, the only pleasure I ever took about flying to Europe (other than the prospect of a great time once I got there) was getting loaded on the plane for free.  I always thought it might help me sleep (if you usually get no sleep whatsoever, but then get about 20 minutes of sleep after downing several free glasses of wine, is that considered ‘an improvement’?  I say “Heck yeah!”).  I figured this flight would follow the same pattern: no (free) booze, no sleep, no joy in Mudville.

Wrong.

Much to my amazement (and delight), good old Lufthansa was serving up the free hootch!  Now don’t get me wrong—the wines were not great (but they were not nearly the insipid wines served on American carriers—see tasting notes below).  The flight attendants were only offering a choice between ‘white’ and ‘red’, so I opted for the white since that is just the way I roll.  It turned out to be a German chardonnay (?!) that actually was not all that bad.  I tried not to down it in a ‘hey-look-at-me-I’ve-been-waiting-for-this-since-breakfast’ kind of way, but I was not very successful since the mother of two across the aisle looked at me as if I were a bum in a railway station and told her children not to talk to me.

We had the four middle bank of seats on the plane, and my wife was seated on the other aisle, with our two boys in between.  Knowing that I would be elated that they were offering free wine for the flight and that she had no desire or intention to drink any, she got me another glass from her flight attendant.  On her aisle, they were serving a German Riesling.  Thus, my first thought: “Hey I could do a little mini-tasting!”  Rather pathetic depending on your point of view.  You may be thinking: “Drinking two average at best German wines out of plastic glasses—pathetic.”  Or you could be thinking: “You are on a plane with your wife and children and you can’t help making a drinking game out of the whole thing—pathetic.”

Either way, pathetic, I realize, but it was a nice victory of sorts at the beginning of my room 101.

2011 Moselland Riesling Kabinett: The Riesling had what I would call a somewhat typical nose for the variety, with minerality and a bit of kerosene.  On the palate, it was certainly racy, with plenty of acidity, but it lacked enough fruit to balance out the acidity.  Relatively short finish.  I do not know what the retail on this wine was, but it is probably in the $10-12 range.  Good. 82 points.

2010 Weingut Keller Weißburgunder-Chardonnay: This was the better of the two in my opinion, with a nose of lemon custard and far better balance on the palate, the fruit and the acidity were both there, neither in a dominant position.  It seems as though this has seen some wood and probably a full maloactic fermentation. Again, no idea of the retail, but I would put it a bit higher than the Riesling, maybe $15. Very Good. 86 points.

The saga continues: Part IV