Etihad & Lufthansa - flights & lounges
Sydney, Abu Dhabi, Frankfurt, Berlin
Tasted Sunday, September 8, 2019 - Saturday, September 14, 2019 by graemeg with 235 views
Introduction
Always fun, seeing what's on offer in Business and - once in a lifetime I suspect, thanks to a free upgrade - (Etihad) First Class, in the air and on the ground. Wish it was an airline known for its wines, but beggars can't be choosers. I gather Emirates is better, and Singapore Airlines First is fantastic, but their Business is usually dire. Anyway, we do what we can. Perhaps unusually, there's no self-serve booze in any Etihad lounges.
Flight 1 - Lounges - Business & First (23 Notes)
Sydney Lounge - Etihad
Combined lounge “The House” for First and Business. Small but decent range of food, but hot/cold, salads, desserts. Some is buffet but some you order and they bring to you (cheese plates for instance). It’s bar service for all the alcohol; no help yourself anymore (a change since twelve months ago).
Abu Dhabi Lounge - Etihad
The First Class lounge, thanks to an upgrade on the Sydney leg, both ways! Doubtless my only experience of one. None of those buffet troughs you get in business class. No, sirree. Here it’s all attentive waiters and silver service. There’s a bar with every spirit you could want, despite the soul of Islam. Although you notice that effect at breakfast; eggs with veal rashers isn’t quite traditional, however you cut it... Lots of space, and not that many people. Quiet, too. Take a shower. Book a massage. The wine is only OK, not fabulous though. Perhaps befitting an Arab nation. A colleague sent me a photo of Singapore First Class (on the plane). They pour DomP (world’s biggest buyer of the stuff I believe), 07 Pichon Lalande, 04 Leoville Poyferre, 05 or 10 Latour Corton Grancy GC…
Lufthansa Business Lounges – Frankfurt & Berlin
Frankfurt really is a shithole of an airport. You can’t get anywhere without walking for vast distances, the security is ludicrously slow; at my boarding gate one the of the scanning machines shifts ended just as the plane was due to board and passengers began arriving. Not to mention the stupidity of having to pass one security screening to get to the lounge, then exit and enter another for the boarding gate. This process that airports have of routing you through their security even though you’ve come off a plane, just so they can confiscate duty-free liquids and make you buy from them means I will never – ever – buy a single thing inside an airport that I don’t have to. Of any sort. Screw them all, since that’s all they want to do to us. And every single Lufthansa Business lounge I’ve been to in Frankfurt airport – which has a few - has been pathetic. Not a hot dish of any sort in any of them. Not a piece of cheese anywhere. Limp salads, salty biscuits, bread and water, basically. And don’t expect a water bottle of your own – no, you can pour yourself a glass from the big communal bottle, which we’ll replace when empty. It’s like a punishment. “You have to travel for work? You’re not important enough that people come to you? Then you can …SUFFER.”
And apart from the multiple scanners and smaller size, much the same could be said for the Lufthansa lounge at Berlin Tegel. Cramped, minimal food, same wines as Frankfurt, not surprisingly. And because they want to be a shopping centre first and an airport second, the security is at the boarding gate, so you can’t just sit waiting in the lounge until the hoi-polloi have boarded. You don’t know how long the scanning queues are and there are no priority lanes. So-called German efficiency really breaks down when it comes to airports I must say.
Flight 2 - In the Air - Etihad & Lufthansa (15 Notes)
Sydney - Abu Dhabi (1st), AD-Frankfurt (B) with Etihad
Berlin - Frankfurt (B) Lufthansa
then Frankfurt back to Sydney in reverse order (B) to AD then 1st back to Sydney, Etihad again. The First class wine list was the same both ways, but the Business slightly different.
NV Yering Station Yarrabank Cuvée
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
(9/8/2019)
Pale straw. Yeasty nose, a hint of cheese; some development. Aggressive but fine bubbles. Dry, with grapefruit flavours. Seems all-chardonnay, but there’s a lick of strawberry at the end of the finish, which is a little short. Medium weight, with low/medium acid. Lacks complexity but otherwise acceptable. (Etihad ‘The House’ Lounge Sydney Airport)
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2017 McPherson Wines Riesling La Vue
Australia, Victoria
(9/8/2019)
{screwcap, 12.5%} Too cold. Muted nose of grass and a faint tropical note. Rather chemical-like palate, metallic flavours. Steely, with only low/medium acid but a rather thick texture. It has a heavy, dense feel, despite the chill. (Etihad ‘The House’ Lounge Sydney Airport)
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2018 Mr. Mick Riesling
Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley
(9/8/2019)
{screwcap} Lively lemon slice nose. Tangy, with a sweetness to it. The palate is rather low in acid though, lending it a flabby air. It’s more tropical on the nose than overtly citric though, doing a fair job of impersonating a sauvignon blanc. It also has a toasty note, odd for a wine so young (presumably without oak treatment!) Rather watery finish though, light-bodied, dry and crisp but light on interest. (Etihad ‘The House’ Lounge Sydney Airport)
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2015 Geoff Merrill Chardonnay Pimpala Road
Australia, South Australia
(9/8/2019)
{screwcap, 13.5%} Grapefruit, vanilla and gentle oak nose. Buttery malo softness on the palate. Vanila flavours, a bit generic chardonnay with some cedary , sandalwood oak too. Low acid. Not exactly developing but seemingly mature anyway. Reasy to drink. (Etihad ‘The House’ Lounge Sydney Airport)
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2018 Yering Station Pinot Noir Elevations
Australia, Victoria
(9/8/2019)
{screwcap} Very lovely floral nose, with strawberries and a chocolate note. Not too sweet. Palate has a touch of tobacco or bush-smoke about it, cherry-like fruit flavours, minimal oak, low dusty tannins, medium acidity. It’s a bit ephemeral but enjoyable for its overall balance, the seeming sweetness offset with a sour note. Not profound by any means but a decent light quaffing pinot. Probably a bit better at 14C than the ~20C I tasted it at. Not much information available on this wine – it’s not even on the producers’ website – some kind of export special or proprietary labelling? (Etihad ‘The House’ Lounge Sydney Airport)
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2017 Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz Vine Rd
Australia, Victoria
(9/8/2019)
{screwcap 13%} Blueberry and chocolate nose. Gluey palate of oak chips, jammy red fruits, the softest possible dusty tannins and lowish acidity. Very much a bistro wine, presumably mopping up a bunch of below-standard grapes for Langhi’s regular labels. Not sweet but has little concentration of length. Very forgettable indeed. (Etihad ‘The House’ Lounge Sydney Airport)
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2015 Wood Park Wild's Gully Cabernet/Merlot
Australia, Victoria, North East, King Valley
(9/8/2019)
{screwcap 13.5%} Black fruit and a touch of brett. Metallic on the palate, with bacterial flavours, a sweet jammy plum sort of character, but also has fungal and almost nasty flavours. Oh dear. Little acid eveident, not much tannin either. Bit of a shambles all round. (Etihad ‘The House’ Lounge Sydney Airport)
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2016 148 Browns Road Merlot
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Mornington Peninsula
(9/8/2019)
{screwcap 13%} Chocolate/plum merlot aromas. “Red of the lounge”, although competition ain’t fierce. Palate of gentle dusty plum fruits, with a sweet twist, minimal oak, low/medium dusty tannins, and a short/medium length finish, fairly dry. Quite drinkable, but a long way from memorable. (Etihad ‘The House’ Lounge Sydney Airport)
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2014 Trentham Estate Taminga Noble Reserve
Australia, New South Wales / Victoria, Murray Darling
(9/8/2019)
{375, screwcap 11%} Golden yellow, but still shot with green. Glassy, vanilla bean nose. No oak, some botrytis, but super-vanilla-infused. There is still a green character on the palate, despite the medium-sweet presence of fruit. Medium length finish, fairly even on the tongue, with some rotten botrytis character but still dominated by a simple steel/green character which is presumably the domain of the grape itself. This gives it a fragile, hollow finish which I don’t think aging will help at all. (Etihad ‘The House’ Lounge Sydney Airport)
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2006 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Brut Millésimé Rosé
France, Champagne
(9/9/2019)
Pale orange. Nose of subtle strawberries. Seems less advanced than the non-rose variant. Muted flavours; blood orange maybe? At any rate, not a lot of presence. Light/medium-bodied, with medium acid and lots of fine creamy bubbles, but it still sits rather a lot on the front palate and finishes far too short for a wine of such pretention. (Etihad First Lounge Abu-Dhabi)
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2012 Château Grand-Pontet
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
(9/9/2019)
{cork} Lots of cigar box and cedar here, some plum aroma too although for a wine apparently 75% merlot there’s a lot of currant too. Palate is nicely even, with ripe red berry fruit flavours, and medium acid; it’s very dry, but not especially tannic. Even, medium-bodied palate, with subdued fruit. Low/medium powdery tannin. Not unripe, just a bit dilute perhaps (or else my new world palate bias is showing too much). (Etihad First Lounge Abu Dhabi)
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2013 Torres Costers del Segre Purgatori
Spain, Catalunya, Costers del Segre
(9/9/2019)
{cork} Carignan/Grenache blend. Fearsome! Nose is youthful, with raisins, boiled plums and plenty of fumey warmth evident. But there’s a strident earthy note too. Surprisingly perhaps, the palate is open and loose, a touch rustic (see Carignan). Stewed red flavours are overt, with medium acid, medium gritty tannins, and a fairly even palate, albeit one carried a bit by alcohol. Medium/full-bodied, despite little obvious oak. Medium length warm finish. Best before a decade I think. (Etihad First Lounge Abu Dhabi)
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2015 Château Pierre-Bise Coteaux du Layon-Beaulieu L'Anclaie
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Coteaux du Layon-Beaulieu
(9/9/2019)
{375ml, cork, 11%} Somewhat honeyed nose, but also with a metallic and even oily aroma. Initially honeyed palate too, with a slippery sort of texture thanks to low/medium acidity. Gentle, low-key but even palate, light/medium in weight. Initially it’s quite sweet, but then subsidises to a drying finish. Fairly simple but surprisingly satisfying. Best over the next few years. (Etihad First Lounge Abu Dhabi)
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2018 Ellermann - Spiegel Auxerrois QbA
Germany, Pfalz
(9/13/2019)
{screwcap, 12.5%} Fresh and sweetish nose of rosewater and pot-pourri. The palate has a little spritz initially, but it fades quickly, and athough it isn’t off-dry there’s some generous fruit which is rendered a bit flabby by the missing acidity. Flowery flavours, distinct hints of lychee too, and a remembrance of gewurz too. Light-bodied and fairly short-finishing too. With the right structure, this could have been quite impressive. After a hot day touristing and a long stuffy bus ride to the airport, it tasted better than it really is! (Lufthansa Business Lounge Berlin Tegel)
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2016 Bouvet-Ladubay Saumur Trésor Brut
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur
(9/13/2019)
{cork, 12.5%} Soft white petals – not much other aroma. Large creaming bubbles dominate the palate, there’s a little anonymous tropical fruit (dry) but little else, no yeast character. Medium acid, light-bodied, and a short finish. Workaday stuff. (Lufthansa Business Lounge Berlin Tegel)
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2018 Domaine Laporte Sauvignon Blanc Le Bouquet
France, Loire Valley, Val de Loire
(9/13/2019)
{screwcap, 12.5%} Pale straw with a green flash. Gooseberry and nettle tang on the nose. Same flavours, but watery, on the palate, low/medium acid, no oak, a little greasy texture on the mid-palate, short-medium finish. Quite dry. Could pass for new world easily, compliment or not. (Lufthansa Business Lounge Berlin Tegel)
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2017 Dominio de Eguren Protocolo
Spain, Castilla-La Mancha, Vino de la Tierra de Castilla
(9/13/2019)
{screwcap, 13.5%} Bright pinkish red. Youthful, pungent aromas of fermenting grapes, vibrant plums and a note of tobacco underneath. No oak evident here. The palate has that liquorice/blackberry tempranillo character, thought it isn’t especially intense in flavour. Light/medium bodied, although that impression is helped by fairly low level acidity, robbing the wine of freshness (although it was served at true room temperature – ie about 23C) which doesn’t help the overall balance. Dry, dusty plum finish, short/medium length. Needs some acid & oak exchanged for about seven centigrades. (Lufthansa Business Lounge Berlin Tegel)
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2016 Weingut Manz Spätburgunder Trocken
Germany, Rheinhessen
(9/13/2019)
{screwcap, 13% AP 54 18} No particular region named, and a stratospheric AP number. Doesn’t really inspire confidence, does it? Translucent dirty garnet in the glass. The palate is earthy with green and rot and stewed stalks. Not entirely off-putting, but edgy. I don’t detect much oak. The palate is still a bit earthy but it’s not really dirty, rather transparent and a touch thin, but not obviously unripe. Gentle but perceptible acid gifts it some lift. Maybe some cherry fruit, and some of those red grapes with very mild flavours. Only light-bodied though, and the finish is very short, though otherwise inoffensive. (Lufthansa Business Lounge Berlin Tegel)
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2015 Château Moulin de Ferrand
France, Bordeaux
(9/13/2019)
{cork, 13.5%} Inky black colour. Nose of raisins, brandy spirit and a whiff of brett. Palate is metallic and stipped in flavour, with burnt, dead fruit flavour, if that’s the word. No appreciable acid, very soft dusty tannins, not much oak evident. The nose might be impressive if you like the style; the rest is forgettable. Finish is thankfully short, despite being quite warm. They call this ‘superiore’?
Note: a second bottle proved very different, suggesting oxidation affected the first. It’s still a raisin-like style, not very Bdx at all, but it has a modicum of powdery tannin now, and some acidity. It’s also still a bit thin on the palate (despite the organic claims on the back-label), and obviously the finish is redeemed, to the point of medium-length. Much more like a proper wine, although not exactly exciting. (Lufthansa Business Frankfurt Terminal 1-C-Gate 15)
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2018 Hecht & Bannier Languedoc Rosé
France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc
(9/13/2019)
{screwcap, 12.5%} Pale salmon pink. Wafty rosewater & strawberry nose. Quite intense, even when so cold. Only mildly flavoured, with gentle roses and salmon pink flavours. Lowish acid though, no tannin, light body. Short finish. Very simple indeed. (Lufthansa Business Frankfurt Terminal 1-C-Gate 15)
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2017 Bouvet-Ladubay Saphir Brut Vintage
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur
(9/13/2019)
{cork, 12.5%} Light apple note. White flowers. Quite vivid, almost aggressive bubbles, which attack the tip of the tongue. It’s dry, quite acerbic even, but all the action stops by the mid-palate. Light-bodied, dry, no autolysis character (the claimed “methode traditionelle” might have a low hurdle point) and a simple, crisp, but otherwise undistinguished finish. (Lufthansa Business Frankfurt Terminal 1-C-Gate 15)
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2015 Livio Felluga Friuli Colli Orientali Sauvignon
Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Friuli Colli Orientali
(9/14/2019)
{cork, 13%} Light lychee nose, gooseberry too. Fresh, no oak. Promising. But then, low/medium acidity, watery texture. Soft. Low-key white fruit of no real distinction, light-bodied in weight. Balanced, in a sense, but has only a short finish and certainly doesn’t clamour for a second taste. (Etihad First Lounge Abu Dhabi)
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2014 William Fèvre Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
(9/14/2019)
{cork} Lightly developing nose of shellfish and brine. Rocks and stones. Chalky texture, almost slighty tannic. Seashell and quartz flavours; this may have lost some freshness being open in the fridge but not listed on a menu. How long I wonder?. Even finish, the acidity seems lowish, the wine is bone dry of course but the medium-length finish lacks much crispness. Suspect it’s not in top condition. (Etihad First Lounge Abu Dhabi)
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