(Bloomberg) - On just about any given day, at any given altitude on an Emirates flight, you can order a glass of Dom Pérignon. If you're flying first class, you might find a Premier Grand Cru Classé from Château Figeac, a highly rated red in the Saint-Émilion region of Bordeaux. And if you're really lucky, you might be able to order a 2005 Sauterne from Château d'Yquem, the superior first-growth winery that was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson and is now owned by LVMH.  

Since the Dubai-based airline began its wine program 12 years ago, it has spent more than $500 million to develop the best wine list in the sky. Joost Heymeijer, a senior vice president who runs the inflight catering service at Emirates, says at any point the airline is flying about 70 different types of wine across its network. The list is fluid, based on the flight path and what vintage is drinking best at that particular time. Over a 12-month period, more than 300 vintages will be served, and it's this breadth that Mark Oldman, author of How to Drink Wine Like a Billionaire, finds most impressive. "To rotate the wines out like that is the most labor-intensive part of it," said Oldman.  

The company's secret weapon, though, is a nondescript group of warehouses that Emirates owns in Burgundy, France. Many of the wines served on an Emirates flight were bought years ago, and they are stored until they're ready to serve.

"If you have a vision of limestone cellars with cobwebs, I'm sorry to disappoint you," says Heymeijer. "Ours is more of a Fort Knox-style facility."

It's a modern, temperature-controlled, light-deprived location that stores 3.75 million bottles of wine in their original packaging, in boxes and on palettes. The company chose Burgundy for the simple reason that ports are a few hours south with temperature-controlled containers where bottles can be shipped to the preferred destination. "It's not very sexy," he says. "But it is highly effective."