VistaJet has launched its Wine Program, which it describes as an expansive and engaging experience of wine, designed to enhance the exploration of the world of wine on its aircraft and at world destinations.

Founder and chairman Thomas Flohr is himself an avid collector and investor with a cellar of more than 3,000 bottles and a particular passion for Burgundies. “Enjoying a glass of wine while in flight should be the same as a glass of wine in a restaurant, but nobody has ever managed to offer this on a global scale,” he says. “So, to provide consistency of service and quality to our members, we have created the first global programme that will ensure our passengers enjoy the best possible wine in the sky whilst catering to all their needs when it comes to tasting, collecting, discovering and developing a deeper knowledge of wine anytime, anywhere.”

If much of the pleasure of savouring wine is in understanding its nuances, the effects of altitude, cabin pressure and air quality mean that selecting the right wine for a flight can prove to be difficult. So during development of the programme the company hosted experts from the houses of Marchesi Antinori and Ca' del Bosco in Italy and Rothschild (Lafite) and Château Latour in France on several flights where they sampled, tasted and compared a number of different wines from all over the world. They also touched down in the Clos de Tart and Château Smith Haut Lafitte vineyards for on the ground tastings. In this way the experts were better able to understand how taste and smell are affected by the atmosphere in a pressurised cabin.

With lower humidity comes lower air pressure, and together this limits the reception of aromas by nasal sensors. Bubbles found in sparkling wines, which contain up to thirty times more aromas than the liquid, tend to stick to the sides of the glass. And fruit flavours are diminished, while bitterness and spiciness are largely unaffected.

It is also the case that the level of background noise on a commercial flight adversely affects a person's perception of smell and taste. In a business jet, however, cabin noise is 35 decibels lower, minimising the inherent psychological impact. Flying at 45,000 feet, VistaJet's Global 6000 has an equivalent air pressure of only 4,500 feet so again, many of the sensory effects of air travel are less noticeable.

There are five elements to the VistaJet Wine Program. Firstly, the Wine in the Sky Questionnaire, a compendium of suggestions for tasting, serving and transporting wine on travels around the world, with contributions from such oenophiles as screenwriter Sofia Coppola, performer Andrea Bocelli, Hong Kong-based wine critic Jeannie Cho Lee and chef/restauranteur Daniel Boulud. Secondly a Signature Wine List, featuring wines handpicked by Flohr that take advantage of the effects of flying to perform best in the sky.

Thirdly, the VistaJet Wine Club allows members to taste 12 carefully selected wines each year from a range of producers and grapes around the world. VistaJet cabin hostesses, trained up to WSET Level 2, can organise a blind tasting to assess the characteristics of grape varieties and record notes on tasting cards. Next comes Wine Tours, a series of bespoke access and personal introductions to the world's best winemakers and wine clubs, where members can request round-the-world itineraries and personal tours of vineyards and wine regions as well as access to wine auctions and events with fine wine traders and collectors. And finally, the World of Wine Concierge, offering tasting advice both prior to flight and at destination to help members discover wines and vineyards in any region they're visiting and assisting with acquisition and safe transportation. Members can request advice from a global network of local experts in North America, Europe and Asia.