Polaris Business Class passengers on United Airlines can now enjoy a glass of Whispering Angel Rosé from Château d’Esclans.
Whispering Angel Rosé Wine Now Available On United Airlines
I’m far afield from the wine scene (coffee is my preferred snobbery), but rosé wine is quickly growing in popularity in the United States. Château d’Esclans, which bottles and markets a blend it calls Whispering Angel Rosé, claims that its sales are up 30% between 2021 and 2022.
Recognizing that increased interest and in an attempt to diversity its wine offerings, United is adding Whispering Angel Rosé to its wine list, effective immediately. The popular wine will be available on all flights in Polaris Business Class, which is United’s longhaul business class product.
Sacha Lichine, owner of Château d’Esclans, underscored the “glamour” of its wine:
“Whispering Angel was instrumental in sparking the Rosé Revolution and has become synonymous with a glamorous lifestyle, so being able to share this exceptional wine with those flying United Polaris as they embark on their travels is exciting. We’re proud to be able to reach new consumers and offer them a taste of the magic of Provence.”
I’d rather emphasize how great it tastes rather than its association with a glamorous lifestyle, but what do I know?
Aaron McMillan, United Managing Director of Hospitality and Planning, empathized the popularity of the wine:
“Whispering Angel is the top-selling French wine in the U.S. so we know it’s something travelers will be thrilled to see onboard just in time for spring break travel.”
CONCLUSION
United Airlines is adding a popular rosé wine to its onboard beverage selection in Polaris Business Class.
I’m limiting my alcohol this year in an attempt to continue to sculpt my body and stave off jet lag, but I will give it a try next time. For research purposes…
Will you try Whispering Angel Rosé on your next United flight in Polaris?
I like Whispering Angel… quite a lot, actually. And yes, it’s very popular with the brunch crowd, but you can also buy it at Total Wine for $14.87, so I don’t really think it’s all that glamorous. All-in-all though, a good move by United. Something I really wish AA might replicate.
It’s an okay wine. It’s kind of like Veuve Clicquot. It has a tremendously sophisticated marketing machine behind it that puts it in all the right places to be recognized, but the wine is of variable quality. There are way better roses out there at better price points. It’s all for show, just like veuve clicquot champagne, whose quality has nose dived but still popular among those with poor taste who like to associate themselves with what marketers have determined is trendy.
I’m kind of surprised that you are popularizing this obvious piece of corp comm.
Interesting. When did veuve cliquot nosedive in quality? I’m not disputing that it did, just wondering if what I have in my house now is before or after the nosedive.
I rarely drink wine other than Champagne. Generally I buy it by the case to drink at home, as such it takes a few years to work through a case. I haven’t noticed a big drop off in quality in what I have on hand, though I have noticed a pretty big increase in price over the past 5 years. Yellow label used to be our common, “normal Saturday night” kind of bottle, but we’ve moved away from it lately due to the pricing more than the taste, but I still have some on hand. I will admit that I felt that the pink version did deteriorate in quality over the past several years.
Exactly. A few airline pros have even written about how heavy the push has been from UA’s CormComms team to plug this midscale (at best) wine. No issues if Matthew ran their piece to keep in the good graces of the the people at United, but would prefer if he at least disclosed it.
I don’t run stories because UA tells me or even because they ask me to. I wrote about it because I like rosé wine…
Variety in wine is nice and probably takes some of the burden off champagne, though not interested in this cheap label.
Can they upgrade the whites and reds quality effective immediately?
And now you can order Perrier sparkling water at Red Lobster.
Same.
It’s mostly a mediocre experience with UA, no way around.
‘Grape variety: Grenache, Cinsault, Rolle, Shiraz/Syrah, Carignan, Mourvèdre, Tibouren’. I am no wine expert, but I suspect that using SEVEN varieties must make it bloody impossible to maintain any consistency in terms of taste/quality/style.
Wow. United moves up to $20 wine in $7,000 business class. I guess its a big step up form the $4.99 swill they serve in domestic F.
At the end of the day, it’s still United.
Is it better than the $2.99 wine at Trader Joe’s? Maybe. It is a mediocre sparkling wine that you can buy for less than $15. Actually my local liquor store sells it for $11.99. It is all hype and no quality. Read the reviews, it is called “supermarket sparkling wine”. People that don’t understand anything about wine and think this is good because they saw on TV.
It’s not sparkling, and if you can buy it for $11.99, send me the store’s address. That’s a deal!
Sorry, you are correct. They make a sparkling wine also very similar to this. Both are garbage. Just checked and the $11 is for the 375ml bottle. The 750ml is $18.
I would prefer Trader Joe’s wine and a Trader Joe’s frozen meal to what United currently serves.
Makes for a great pairing with the microwave cheeseburger.
@Stuart: LOL!! That was the best description. United tries hard but doesn’t get it.
Bingo. And don’t forget the plastic Dole fruit cup pairing either!
Next United will promote box wine, messaging it’s so much more eco-friendly. Oscar the Grouch will be Oscar the Wino
LOL!
With all the fekking things needing attention at UAL, they spent time selecting a Rosé for Polaris? That ought to really move the needle with traffic and positivity scores.
Yes, Matt, write about the glorious news that United is serving $20 wine to it’s elite class. Come on, man. This is not news.
Mr. Justice, you don’t have to click on stories that don’t appeal to you.