This year I am celebrating 50 years as a wine writer. Over these five decades I have had the privilege of visiting wineries on four continents and I have flown many of the world’s airlines.
I have just returned from a week in Hong Kong, where I attended that city’s annual outdoor Wine & Dine Festival, which featured 340 booths presenting the wines of France, Italy, Spain, China, Australia, South Korea and – for the first time – Canada.
As a guest of the Hong Kong Tourist Board, I was flown there Business Class by Cathay Pacific. And what a pleasure it was to endure the 13½-hour return flight in coddled comfort. I broke the outbound Air Canada journey in Vancouver to spend the night with my daughter and grandson. The following morning the Cathay Experience began in the Business Class lounge.
The food is prepared by chefs on site. I enjoyed a snack of pork and deep-fried shrimp roll before boarding our afternoon flight to the ultra-modern new airport on Chek Lap Kok island in western Hong Kong.
Seated in my pod, enjoying a glass of Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve Champagne, I immediately perused the Wine & Spirits list, as is my wont.
It was an impressive cellar:
- Domaine des Deux Roches Vieilles Vignes Saint-Veran Rives de Longsault 2024 (Burgundy)
- Westmount Pinot Gris 2023 (Willamette Valley, Oregon)
- Domaine de la Solitude 2021 (Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux)
- Bent Coast Pinot Noir 2023 (Santa Barbara County, California)
and for the cheese course: Graham’s Late Bottled Vintage Port 2020
There was also a page added, offering:
- Rimapara Organic Sauvignon Blanc 2025 (Marlborough, New Zealand)
- Flechas de los Andes Gran Corte 2021 (Mendoza, Argentina)
(I could also have ordered Johnnie Walker Gold Reserve Scotch, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Canadian Club or the following spirits and liqueurs: Campari, Bombay Sapphire Gin, Bacardi Rum, Absolut Vodka, Hine Rare VSOP cognac, Cointreau or Bailey’s Irish Cream. Quite a bar!)
For lunch I had the choice of starters: pea and mint veloute, snow pea tendrils and aged pecorino; honey-glazed smoked duck breast with mixed vegetables.
Mains: shrimp, fishcake and fishball laksa noodle soup; or grilled cauliflower with saffron risotto, dukkah spices, chimichurri, pomegranate; or roasted chicken thigh, glazed carrots, fondant potatoes, accompanied by leaf salad, balsamic vinegar; or halibut with scallion and butter sauce.
Next a plate of cheeses: French brie and double Gloucester.
Followed by dessert: seasonal fresh fruit, vanilla panna cotta (green apple compote, shortbread crumbs), hawthorn jelly with Chinese yam, and a selection of ice cream and pralines.
Should I feel hungry before dinner I could always request from the galley ice cream, caramel popcorn and other sweet and savoury nibbles.
Dinner menu: seasonal fresh fruit, tamarind-glazed barramundi fillet with okra curry, jeera rice; or roasted eggplant with bell pepper sauce and lemon honey soy sauce; or sacha chicken with flat rice noodles.
Dessert: opera cake with raspberry puree.
Breakfast menu
The courtesy and attention my wife and I received on both flights, from the cabin crew and the ground staff, was impressive, as was the relaxing atmosphere in the lounges at Vancouver and Hong Kong.
The highest compliment I can pay Cathay Pacific was that they made us feel, not like passengers, but like honoured guests.
I look forward to my next flight on this magnificent airline.
Cheers, Tony
