United Airlines recently won Global Traveler’s 2017 Wines on the Wing award for serving the best champagne in international first class. The winner: Joseph Perrier Brut Cuvée Royale 2004. While I don’t purport to be a champagne expert, I’m skeptical.
My beef is not “Krug is better” or “Dom is better” or “Salon is better”. It is not all inconceivable to me that United’s Joseph Perrier Brut Cuvée Royale 2004 might win a blind taste.
And for that reason I congratulate United on its victory.
Here’s are the top-five winners:
1. Joseph Perrier Brut Cuvée Royale 2004 (United Airlines)
2. Taittinger Brut Millésime 2008 (American Airlines)
3. Dom Perignon 2006 (Singapore Airlines)
4. Barons de Rothschild Blanc de Blancs, NV (Asiana Airlines)
5. Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle, Grande Cuvée, NV (British Airways)
But, champagne on the ground does not taste like champagne at 40,000 feet. Just as food must be specially-prepared to account for differing conditions onboard an aircraft, so does the taste of champagne (and other alcohol) vary based on altitude. That makes the tasting results much less practical to those who use this as a purchasing decision.
Second, I don’t trust Global Traveler. The magazine features flight reviews in every issue. These are not as in-depth as my trip reports, but still tend to include the essentials: seat, food, service, IFE, etc. Read the end of each review and you’ll see a disclaimer that the airline comped the flight. You also have airlines, including United, who advertise in the magazine. Pay for play?
I won’t go that far. This tasting test may be totally legitimate. But I simply do not give Global Traveler much credibility. And that’s one reason why I struggle over comped flight and do not accept them.
And third, doesn’t this tweet from United say it all–
Sip, sip, hooray🥂! @GTmag's annual Wines on the Wing survey awarded us Best Champagne in International First Class. pic.twitter.com/6u0EO6csy3
— United Airlines (@united) August 2, 2017
Nothing like champagne served in a plastic cup from a cabin that will be phased out by next spring. In fact, the picture is of business class, not even first class.
CONCLUSION
So let’s congratulate United for this victory in its final year of Polaris First Class. But let’s not blindly accept that the results may not be as tainted as a bottle of flat champagne.
And yet they’re still serving it in plastic?
*shakes head*
In my experience, when United serves “champagne” in the plastic flute with a chocolate during boarding it is not champagne at all. It is low-cost sparkling wine from mini-bottles. Actual champagne is not uncorked until the in-air beverage service begins.
As you obviously know but leave out to keep your tone negative, airlines have to serve PDB’s in plastic as glass isn’t allowed while taxiing, etc. If they do serve glass it must be collected before pushback. United, like the others that serve PDB’s in plastic, switches to glass immediately after takeoff.
Wrong. Most airlines serve PDBs in real glasses in first class and even business class…the US carriers seem to be the exception. In any case, you’d think United would at least use a real glass in its tweet, no?
Are they still using that ‘flute’? I haven’t seen it on my last two Polaris flights.
“But, champagne on the ground does not taste like champagne at 40,000 feet. Just as food must be specially-prepared to account for differing conditions onboard an aircraft, so does the taste of champagne (and other alcohol) vary based on altitude.”
The only problem is, from reading the article, it looks like the actual wine tasting occurred on the ground. Ironically, that theoretically makes this taste test more practical for a purchasing decision than in-flight consumption.
Interestingly, the Joseph Perrier has a Wine Spectator score of 90, suggesting a champagne that’s pretty good but perhaps not a world beater. That’s the same as the Rothschild, and a little lower than the others, in the 93-95 range. Disclaimer: while I love wine, I’m not a champagne person, at all, and couldn’t tell you the difference between a good one and the swill that gets handed out for free on New Year’s.
All this is great; my only comment is that I do not recall UA serving that champagne on-board. They typically serve the Ayala in first and the non-vintage Joseph Perrier in Polaris.