This past Tuesday, the GT crew descended upon NYC to help conduct our annual Wines on the Wing Airline Wine Competition. The blind tasting took place at the Jumeirah Essex House in NYC. The judges were a panel of 39 experts gathered from around the NYC area who judged over 100 wines submitted from approximately 30 airlines! Submitted wines must be from first and business class cabins. Global Traveler is the only US based magazine to conduct such a survey. For months ahead of time, we are feverishly preparing – sending wine letter requests, helping airlines get the wines into the US and to our PA offices, numbering and categorizing the wines, securing the proper location and supplies, following up with the wine judges, etc. And none of this would come together without the work of Eunice Fried, our wine columnist, a true expert in the field who is the reason why everything is perfectly organized and the judges we attract are a top notch mixture of master sommeliers, winemakers, restaurant owners, teachers and wine professionals. Last year was the first one I attended and it is quite interesting to watch the way the judges taste the wines. First they judge the appearance – looking at it through the glass, swirling it around in the glass. Then, aroma is judged. The interesting part to me was that the judges actually spit out the wine. They all take different size sips, some spit out more than others, it all varies, but it is a very interesting process to watch. The room is very quiet and the tasting is efficient and moves rather quickly. Wines are tasted in flights and scored on a scale of 20. And now begins the work of calculating the results and finding the winners! Awards are given for “Best Overall Wines on the Wing,” “Best Red Wine,” “Best White Wine” and “Best Sparkling Wine.” Will last year’s winner, EVA Air, take top honors again – our results are revealed in the August issue of Global Traveler -stay tuned! -Kimberly Krol, circulation and public relations executive