Greetings from Manila, Philippines. I'm spending a week here with my Aunt (a Philippine native) and Uncle touring this beautiful country before heading off to Australia and New Zealand for an epic wine journey.

I had the good fortune of flying United's new Polaris Class from Denver to Tokyo on Monday. I have never flown 12 hours before, but my brother is a 2 million mile flyers for United and makes the long journeys regularly.

I have flown to Europe via Economy class and on coast to coast flights in the US in both Economy and first class. I can say with certainty that my experience in United Polaris was outstanding.

Today's blog focuses on the Polaris wine list and some of the food I enjoyed.

1. Upon entering the cabin I enjoyed a flute of Joseph Perrier Non-Vintage Brut Champagne. It was fresh and vivacious with clean flavors of granny smith apple and citrus undertones.

2. I chose a 2015 Le Finge Chablis as my first still wine. It was really well balanced with bright acidity and some tropical and stone fruit elements.

There were two other white wines offered: 2015 Skouros Moscofilero, which is a really nice Greek white which I have reviewed in a previous blog. There was also a 2014 Weingutt Rerhweil Riesling, which I did not sample, but the woman in my neighboring seat really enjoyed.

1. One of the great things Polaris offers is a tasting flight which allows you to enjoy a small sample of each wine so you can decide which you want to enjoy as your top choice. I chose this option to check out the three red offerings.

2014 Benziger Family Sonoma County Cabernet (California)

2014 Bouchard Pere and Fils Cote De Beaune-Villages (France)

2014 Kir Yianna "Paranga" Red Blend (Australia)

I selected the Bouchard Pere and Fils to enjoy with my beef short ribs, which were quite good. The wine presented tart cherry and baked red fruits with well integrated acidity.

Overall, I was very pleased by the Polaris wine program. The list was diverse and the option to taste via wine flight was appreciated. John, our Polaris Cabin Service Manager, delivered my wines efficiently with nice presentation and attention to detail.

The inflight experience in Polaris makes the long haul flights much more palatable. The only negative thing on my flight was that the in flight wifi was not working.

This was a major inconvenience for me and several of the international business people, who planned to get some work done while in the air. The United crew was very professional and apologetic, offering each of us compensation for the inconvenience.

Overall, I would highly recommend the Polaris experience, Wine lovers will appreciate the chance to have a fun food and wine experience at 35,000 - 40,000 feet up.

http://www.vindy.com/users/photos/2017/feb/26/107079/

http://www.vindy.com/users/photos/2017/feb/26/107080/