The Wine Fairy

To all of us wine nerds flying basic economy, be prepared to stow your taste and curiosity along with your roller bag. Since airlines restored alcohol service after the pandemic, the focus has been on efficiency and catering to the broadest swath of the flying public.

Menus are getting smaller, prices are getting higher, and service windows are getting shorter. Among other tweaks, Southwest Airlines‘ most recent in-flight menu revision (November 2023) eliminated the rosé option and hiked prices on wine from $6 to $8. The Dallas-based carrier now has just three wines on the menu…and we sampled them all to find the best (?).

A note on methodology: We tasted all these wines at 35,000+ feet, which is totally unfair to the winemakers. Low humidity and lower atmospheric pressure in the cabin are known to dull your sense of smell and taste. (This is why in-flight meals are always loaded with salt, sugar, and distracting mealtime novelties like adorable little packets of butter.) The effects on wine include quashing subtle aromas and making the wine taste more tannic and astringent.

Unfortunately, it seems none of Southwest’s three wines are distributed in Texas (aside from the airline’s contract), so we weren’t able to purchase them locally for a lower-altitude re-taste. The wines, then, are reviewed as tasted–as you will be tasting them if you order them during a flight.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, all of these wines pair just fine with Southwest’s new in-flight snack, the Maui Monk onion pretzels! Now, on to your three wine choices:

Cruset Brut Sparkling Wine

It sure is nice to have something fizzy to settle your nerves after the Southwest Airlines cattle call. To overcome dehydration, choose the AHA Blueberry Pomegranate sparkling water. To stave off plane-sickness, opt for a ginger ale. And to start your trip out on a celebratory note, you gotta order Cruset Brut, Southwest’s answer to Champagne.

Cruset Brut is a budget French Blanc de Blancs based on mainly Ugni Blanc grapes from Languedoc. Just past the opening notes of waxy paper cup, you’ll notice pronounced aromas of green apple and pear. This wine is quite dry with high acidity and aggressive, lemony bubbles. There is just a hint of salinity and bread (saltine cracker?) on the finish.

Most airlines prefer their wine offerings to be low-ish in alcohol to counteract passengers’ bad behavior onboard. Considering this, I’m happy that Southwest resisted the temptation to choose a sweeter style for their lone sparkling wine option.

This is a totally passable brunch bubbly, and its crisp, citrusy character will appeal to Prosecco lovers and pretzel-nibblers. It’s not very complex, but it’s absolutely drinkable. It’s quite low in residual sugar, making it ideal to mix with Southwest’s orange juice or cranberry juice cocktail if that’s your jam.

I recommended drinking this one very cold. Warm it up, and its bright acidity morphs into an unpleasant sour-apple taste. The flight attendant will usually let you know if they didn’t have time to chill the Brut. If that’s the case, maybe get the Chard–or ask for a cup of ice.

Our rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Origin: France (Languedoc)

Variety: Ugni Blanc, Aerin, Muscat

ABV: 11%

Cost Onboard: $8 (187 ml)

Full bottle retail (estimated): $9-11

Carmenet Cabernet Sauvignon

From the brand: “In a wonderful blend of berries nurtured by California’s valley sun, you can be sure to expect ripe flavors and vibrant, heady aromas. With a dark rich red color, our Cabernet Sauvignon presents a complex bouquet of berries with hints of chocolate. The palate rounds out with spice and vanilla and ends with a smooth lingering finish.”

Okay, now I understand what the scientists were saying about impaired tasting on airplanes. I’m comparing the marketing copy above to these tasting notes I scribbled down on a bar napkin while onboard the plane: “Alcohol, grape juice, oak, tannins.” Good lord, the tannins.

While this Cab (+Zin?) blend may taste like berry skin or “hints of chocolate” on land, from the Southwest Airlines bar in the sky, it taste like chewing on the contents of a tea bag. Similarly, the alcohol is bracingly prominent. It’s hard to believe that it clocks in at only 12.5%–actually quite modest by the standards of big California wines.

This style of ripe, inexpensive Cab blends–the style of wine that I imagine Carmenet to be–is one of my go-to favorites. It’s something I’ll drink basically anytime, anywhere, without even a trace of wine snobbery. Carmenet even has a reputation in certain circles as a “Better Than Josh” solid value of a Cabernet. Unfortunately, onboard it tasted like an outline of a Cabernet: Flat, astringent, and harsh. Any round fruit flavors or subtle spice aromas are all but crushed by the ethanol vapors and a bitter, sour finish.

One saving grace is that the Carmenet Cabernet improves vastly in the presence of food. I needed to ask the flight attendant for a second bag of Maui onion pretzels just to get through it. Red wine drinkers, take note: Since this is your sole choice onboard a Southwest aircraft, plan for success by grabbing a bunch of Cheez-Its or perhaps some beef jerky from the terminal before you board.

Our rating: 2 stars (out of 5), 2.5 stars with Maui Onion pretzels

Origin: California (Lodi)

Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon (79%), Proprietor’s Blend (21%)

ABV: 12.5%

Cost onboard: $8 (187 ml)

Full bottle retail (estimated): $10-$14

Salmon Creek Chardonnay

Salmon Creek Chardonnay is the newest addition to the in-flight menu. It replaces Southwest’s previous white wine option, the Mossel Bay Chenin Blanc/Chardonnay blend.

The Salmon Creek brand is distributed by Bronco Wine Co. It exists primarily for restaurants to offer as house wines. Salmon Creek Chardonnay is exactly the kind of broadly appealing, inoffensive product that restaurants select for their house Chard these days (if they bother to have a house Chard at all): Medium body, dominated by apple/lemon flavors, with a hint of tropical fruit and restrained use of oak. And moderate alcohol, of course, because it’s on a plane.

The winemaker says: “Lively fruit and a refreshing balance are the trademarks of Salmon Creek Chardonnay. Our winemaker capitalizes on the time-honored flavors of this grape and ensures that each bottle will have plenty of apple, fig and melon nuances. The finish is soft and crisp with a hint of vanilla.”

On the other hand, my wino cousin says, “Anything with ‘creek’ or ‘canyon’ in the name is always some cheap ass bullshit!” (Southwest Airlines’ 2001-2024 signature plane color scheme was called “Canyon Blue.” Coincidence? I think not.)

Salmon Creek Chardonnay is fine. It’s fine, okay? It’s fresh, it’s pleasant, it doesn’t lose much when it’s over-chilled–exactly what you need for an in-flight wine. Feeling creative? Order it with a seltzer and a couple of packets of the weird lime crystals and make a cheeky spritzer.

P.S. Nobody likes oak in their Chardonnay anymore, except for those who still do. Fortunately, Southwest now offers birchwood drink stirrers as part of their plastic reduction program. If you’re part of the silent minority, order yours with “extra sticks” for that familiar oak chip flavor.

Our rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Origin: California

Varietal: Chardonnay (78%), French Colombard (21%), Proprietor’s Blend (1%)

ABV: 12.5%

Cost onboard: $8 (187 ml)

Full bottle retail (estimated): $6-10

Southwest Wine: Just Fine

In short, these wines are all A-OK! Nothing appallingly bad on the menu, nothing worth seeking out, either. I wish Southwest’s wine list had something a little more exciting–something I could really look forward to sipping when I fly. I would also like to see more national brands, which I think would expedite service and lead to happy wine discoveries. But it’s easy to understand why they did what they did here. They only had three slots, and they had to try and make a wine list that has something for everybody.

Any of these wines is guaranteed to taste pretty bad when you’re miles above the ground, due to the plane-induced sensory fog. Also, any of these wines is guaranteed to taste pretty great when you’ve just been groped by TSA and herded onboard and the kid in the seat in front of you is spilling Goldfish crackers on your toes and blasting Cocomelon videos–due to the fact that they all contain alcohol.

In the final analysis, we liked the Cruset Brut the best of the in-flight wines. Even when the taste and aromas are dampened by air travel, its acidity and effervescence cut through the haze.

As of December 2024, all wine on Southwest costs $8 including tax–which is still a bargain as far as airport hooch goes. If you have drink coupons to burn, or if you have one of the Southwest credit cards that rewards you for in-flight purchases, even better. (I use the Southwest Business Premier card with its 25% rebate on in-flight spending, which brings the effective cost down to $6 for wine.)

Finally, wine lovers, if none of these Southwest Airlines wine options tickles your palate, you can always have a glass before boarding the big blue bird. At Southwest’s home base of Dallas-Love Field, there’s a Hops & Grapes kiosk at Gates 1-5 (yes, drinks are allowed at the gate), and a CRÚ Food & Wine Bar just after TSA.

This is Wine Fairy signing off–happy flying!

Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.