Olivier Poussier : The art of wine at high altitude with Air Tahiti Nui

Olivier Poussier, named Best Sommelier of France in 1990 and World’s Best Sommelier in 2000, has been the consulting sommelier for Air Tahiti Nui since 2017. He is in charge of selecting wines for the airline’s business class, following a clear philosophy he recently shared with Reva Tahiti during a visit to Papeete in May 2025.

How has your understanding of passengers’ expectations for wine evolved since your first selection for Air Tahiti Nui ?

I’ve been working in the airline industry for a long time, so I know what’s involved. Of course, passengers’ expectations are key, but I also rely on my experience with how wines behave in-flight. At altitude, due to the pressurized cabin environment, you lose about 25% of a wine’s aromatic potential. Even with the improved conditions aboard the Tahitian Dreamliners—quieter cabins and better humidity—pressurization still alters how wines are perceived.

Take sparkling wines, for example: at altitude, bubbles tend to be coarser, thicker, and more aggressive, regardless of the champagne’s quality.

Altitude also enhances the perception of tannins in red wines. Structured reds become even more angular. That’s something to be mindful of when selecting wines.Passengers also tend to favor familiar appellations. My role as a sommelier is to respect that, but also to be a guide and a curator. That’s what we’ve tried to do with Air Tahiti Nui’s tender—our year-round wine list—which includes both French and international wines that reflect current trends in global wine production, including pricing realities. Some appellations have become too expensive or too limited in quantity, which forces us to make thoughtful, balanced choices—both in terms of quality and appeal to travelers, while still staying within budget. Thankfully, Air Tahiti Nui offers more generous resources than many other international airlines.

How does this new wine list tell a different story compared to previous selections ?

When I first joined Air Tahiti Nui in 2017, I reviewed the existing selection and began to add my personal touch. Each year since then, we’ve written a new chapter. For passengers, we aim to offer variety and surprise. We’ve rotated regions: last year’s white wine came from the Rhône Valley, while this year’s is from Burgundy. The second red wine has shifted from the southern Rhône to Languedoc. As for the rosé, we stayed in Côtes de Provence but switched to a new estate in Roquefort-la-Bédoule, offering a different terroir.

We also have rotating ‘favorites’—wines served on selected flights, such as an Italian Pinot Blanc from Alto Adige, and Franck Phélan, a second wine from a classified growth in Saint-Estèphe (2017), which will soon be served onboard.

What guides your selections: market trends, originality, food pairings, or how well the wines perform in-flight ?

All of the above. Food and wine pairings are a challenge onboard. Menus change every quarter, wines once a year, and meals vary by route, but the wine list remains the same across flights. Instead of specific pairings, we create a list that covers multiple profiles: a light red focused on fruit, a more robust red, a crisp white with acidity, a rich and generous white or rosé.

The rotating ‘favorites’ allow us to contrast with what’s already on the annual list—offering either a nervy, mineral wine or something fuller and richer. It’s all about variety and balance. For reds, we might include a juicy, easy-drinking wine and one with more structure. This diversity allows passengers, with a bit of guidance, to choose what best suits their preferences.

Is it the crew who guides the passenger ?

Yes. During training sessions, I teach the crew to say, for instance, 'In addition to white wine, we also have a rosé available.' Rosé pairs well with a variety of dishes—meat or fish—and offers versatility. Training helps the crew identify optimal pairings. For instance, our dessert wine, a Jurançon, pairs well with blue cheese, foie gras with chutney, sweet-savory dishes, or tropical fruit desserts.

A flight attendant once asked me what to serve with a chocolate-caramel tartlet. I explained that Jurançon is better with fruit-driven desserts. But for chocolate or caramel, a lightly chilled aged rum or cognac works beautifully. Training provides these kinds of useful tips.

Training a crew is not the same as training sommeliers. What’s your goal ?

Exactly. In a two-hour session, I’m not turning them into sommeliers. But I do teach them the fundamentals: how to present, open, and serve wine at the right temperature, how to pour the correct amount so the wine can breathe. Since wine warms quickly onboard, especially whites left on the trolley, they must remain vigilant.

We also give advice based on meal choices. A vegetarian or seafood dish may call for a light red or a white. A beef Rossini ? Recommend the fuller-bodied red. Since there are two reds on the list, explain which one has more body and structure for the dish. The crew also has support cards to help them, and we discuss real-life questions they face. Cabin crew are, above all, in the service profession—it's about listening and guiding.

Can we speak of a 'travel wine'? Are there wines that hold up particularly well in-flight ?

Experience is key when selecting wines for airline service. You have to anticipate how wines will evolve in a pressurized cabin. For example, Bordeaux is a well-loved appellation among Tahitians—and among my personal favorites. On the new wine list, I’ve selected a second wine from the classified Margaux estate Malescot Saint-Exupéry: La Dame de Malescot. It offers roundness, suppleness, and velvet on the palate—qualities that remain perceptible in-flight, even if the wine becomes slightly more disjointed at altitude.

I avoid wines with intense tannic structure on the ground because these characteristics become amplified in the air. That means I skip certain vintages that are still too young. I focus on balanced wines with well-integrated, polished tannins. There are many wines I love, but if they’re not ready—if their oak influence is still dominant and tannins are too harsh—I won’t select them. In-flight, they just won’t show their best.

Whites are different. They don’t present the same issues with tannins, but they do lose aromatic intensity. That’s why I look for whites with expressive, open aromatic profiles—nothing closed or reductive. During the selection process with Alexander Gerner, we tasted around seventy wines and kept only five. Even before that tasting, I had already pre-selected bottles based on personal preference, vintage, and style. The goal was always the same: to ensure every wine performs well at 30,000 feet.

Does a good wine create a lasting memory? Do passengers ever follow up with the producers after discovering a wine onboard ?

Absolutely. Air Tahiti Nui’s wine list is not only carefully curated, it’s also presented attractively—with descriptions of the wines and regions—which naturally sparks interest. In-flight tasting becomes a moment of discovery. Many Tahitian travelers in business class go looking for these wines once back home, provided they’re distributed locally.A well-crafted wine list has real added value: it balances familiar, reputable labels with opportunities to discover new wines.

How did you work with the Hilton Tahiti culinary team? Did the dish selection start with the wines? Did you suggest specific pairings ?

The team worked from the wines we presented to them. On my end, I suggested some main ingredients to guide them. For example: “Here we have the 2023 Pouilly-Fumé from Domaine Denizot. It’s a Sauvignon Blanc grown on flint and limestone soils, with aromas of dill, fennel, citrus, and lemon zest…” So the chef prepared a yuzu-seasoned fish tartare.

Then we had a soft and supple Bordeaux—La Dame de Malescot, made with 35% Merlot, which brings roundness and finesse. It’s a 2021 vintage, a cool year with low alcohol and an Atlantic influence. That led us to a red wine and fish pairing: a tataki-style tuna steak garnished with sesame seeds, buckwheat, and a touch of soyu. The dish was finished with a light glaze of concentrated red wine sauce.

For the cheese course, a young pressed cow’s milk cheese like Comté was matched with a Mâcon-Villages white—because cheese can absolutely pair with white wine too.

Finally, for dessert, with the Jurançon, we worked around exotic fruit. I told them: “Do whatever you like using pineapple, mango, passion fruit, or papaya...” Once those few guidelines were given—just enough direction—the chef took the lead. He later sent me the menus, we adjusted a few details if needed, and it was ready.

Is the ultimate goal to showcase the wines, or to strike a perfect balance between food and wine tasting ?

I believe a successful menu is one where both the cuisine and the wines are appreciated equally. If one overshadows the other—whether it’s the food or the wine—it’s not ideal. A truly memorable dinner is one where both elements are in harmony, in total synergy.

One of the main challenges we faced here was serving temperature. In tropical climates, wines warm up quickly. You have to control that by placing bottles in cold water with a generous amount of ice, and only taking them out at the last moment. If served too cold, the tannins become harsh. That’s the paradox in places like Tahiti, La Réunion, and other regions with similar climates: it’s hot, and the wines we crave should be refreshing and thirst-quenching.

There’s simply more room for light, easy-drinking wines than for highly concentrated ones. That said, some Tahitians do enjoy great wines, prestigious labels, and bottles meant for aging. In those cases, managing temperature becomes even more critical. It’s the trickiest part, really.

But regardless of the constraints, creating a new wine list, presenting our approach to travelers, and showing that this is the result of thoughtful selection—not something pulled out of a hat—is always incredibly rewarding.

I truly enjoy it every time.

To wrap things up: among the new additions for 2026, which wine would you recommend the crew offer to someone who’s only having a single glass aboard a Tahitian Dreamliner ?

Next year’s discovery is definitely the Terrasses du Larzac, which I’ve added to the onboard selection. Terrasses du Larzac is a relatively young AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée), officially recognized in 2014—just ten years ago. Before that, it was part of the broader Coteaux du Languedoc – Terrasses du Larzac appellation.

This designation has real legitimacy because it’s located in the northernmost part of the Languedoc region, as the name suggests—right at the foothills of the Larzac plateau. Thanks to its altitude and cooler climate, with significant temperature variation between day and night, grape ripening occurs more slowly than in other areas. The rainfall, influenced by the plateau itself, is significant—about 850 mm (33.5 inches) per year—compared to just 250–300 mm (10–12 inches) per year in vineyards just 100 km farther south.

In the context of climate change, this makes a major difference: in drier zones, vines suffer from water stress, and ripening can be halted due to lack of moisture. Even if the stress eases with the first rains, the tannins never quite recover.

Because of its diversity of microclimates, soils, slopes, geology, and grape varieties, Terrasses du Larzac is a particularly exciting appellation. For now, it produces only red wines—but it’s one that truly deserves to have whites as well.

I chose a stunning estate, Mas Fabregous, whose blend is 60% Syrah, Grenache, and Carignan. It’s located in the village of Soubès, at 450 meters (1,475 feet) elevation, near Pégairolles-de-l’Escalette—some of the northernmost villages in the Terrasses du Larzac.

These wines really deliver. They have an aromatic identity you’d expect from a southern wine: spices, wild herbs, garrigue, black olive tapenade. The fruit is always bright and juicy. Naturally, the wine is powerful—it’s Languedoc, after all. But it breathes the Mediterranean and the South without the usual drawbacks: it’s not overly alcoholic, nor overripe or overly cooked in flavor.

Mas Fabregous 2023 would be my personal favorite.