What airline is the best champagne?

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The golden days of flying can disappear, but for those who are lucky to turn left when boarding there is still the possibility of champagne. And as competition for first -class clients increases: British Airways, Lufthansa and Air France have recently presented new first class suites: more airlines now look for a sparkling wine to give it the advantage.

Singapore airlines Recently signed an exclusive agreement for Pour Cristal 2015, a prestigious cuvee that serves first -class passengers on routes selected in tulips glasses by Lalique. “That glass of champagne is more or less the first thing that happens to you on a flight, so it is terribly important to do well,” says the wine consultant from SA, Oz Clarke. “And with the long -term wines of this caliber, that requires real planning. The red burgundy that we are currently serving in first class, a 2005 Pichon Lalande, for example, is one that we buy 15 years ago. Wines that we are buying now will probably not leave the basement until 2035.

Qatar Airways‘Just named Master of Wine, Anne Krebiehl, is a champagne specialist. She argues the case of drinking it at altitude, backed by Flavor Science. “At 35,000 feet, our senses are opaque due to the pressure of the cabin and the relative dryness of the air, but our perception of Umami is not affected,” she says. “And there is a lot of Umami in long -standing wines such as Krug or Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve, which contains many reserve wines. Bubbles also help to bring aroma directly to their olfactory receptors and stimulate the trigeminal nerve, a super high path of sensory belonging that is not affected by altitude, dry or white noise.”

Winner of the gold medal in recent Gareos at the Sky Awards, Qatar Airways offers white and pink champagne in the first and business. “First, we are currently serving Krug, with his exquisite sabro, and Bollinger the great Année Rosé, a cuvée directed by Pinot with an exuberant atr see,” says Krebiehl. “In business it is often Heidsieck Brut Réserve, of which I am a great devotee, has so much depth.”

Air France passes more than one million bottles a year

Air France It is proud to offer champagne to passengers in each class. The new airline’s head sommelier Xavier Thuizat – Who is also the main sommelier in Paris? Hôtel de Crillon – He tells me that they exceed more than one million bottles of champagne a year. As part of its update of £ 7 billion, British airways He has doubled on English sparkling wine. The prestige Cuvées available in the first class in the coming months will include the Rosé 1086 of Nyimber and the fifty -one degrees of northern Gusbourne, in addition to a new Becka of Dermot Sugrue, a worship winemaker in the South Downs. In the Champagne front, BA has also restored the excellent great Siècle de Laurent-Perrier.

Booze has been an integral part of the experience on board since the 1930s, when the first commercial aircraft reached the skies. In the mid -twentieth century, it had become an important difference between competitive airlines. An early incarnation of the real service of Delta Air Lines included champagne and free flow canapés; according Flight taste By the author and pilot to the Bridger, British Airways offered the customers of the 50s a “flight champagne dinner” with a burgundy, a Burgundy champagne and Mumm Cordon Rouge.

In these moments much more abstemious, a single glass of champagne “can be the only thing that people drink,” says Charles Metcalfe, judge of Cellaros in the sky, so an airline must make him count on a glass. I certainly remember being beaten by Krug’s offer in a first class. Ann Flight to Japan. However, it is even more impressive if the crew of the cabin also clearly knows its wines. The Emirates training program is one of the most rigorous. His new three -level course “L’Art du vin” sees the first class staff educated in the Bordeaux classifications of 1855 and the best Burgundy Burgundy; They are also versed in the combination of food and wine, and wines, including Château d’aquem, Ornellaia and Dom Pérignon P2.

Private jet operator Flexion It will make the additional mile and organize champagne tastings led by sommelier for passengers in flight. And when it comes to the coincidence of food and wine, no combination is too strange. “We have had some very specific applications for champagne pairing, which include a tuna and tikka sandwich chicken masla,” says CEO Andrew Collins. Even at 35,000 feet, apparently, the customer is always right.

@alicelascelles