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Four English wines to be served on British Airways flights
From April, English wine will be served alongside Champagne on British Airways Business Class flights for the first time, as part of a one year trial of British fizz.
British Airways has announced it will be introducing four English sparkling wines into its drinks roster as part of a year-long rotation, with the wine on offer changing every three months.
The airline’s sparkling offering will therefore consist of BA’s current Champagne resident Heidsieck & Co. Monopole Silver Top Non-Vintage Champagne, and now an exclusive English Sparkling wine option. The wines themselves have been chosen by British Airways in-house Master of Wine Tim Jackson.
First to fly is the Digby Fine English Brut NV, created by the UK’s first négociant winery.
Trevor Clough, CEO and head blender, told db: “We think it’s amazing that British Airways, as an internationally loved British brand and a physical connector of us to the rest of the world, is really quadrupling down on English sparkling wine. To be the welcome treat for business class passengers is another huge wave pushing English wine to the forefront – where it belongs. For Digby to be leading that charge is just awesome. We are pleased and tickled to be a part of it.”
From July, the airline will serve the Balfour Rosé de Noirs, grown on the Balfour Hush Heath Estate in Kent. This rosé sparkling wine is an exclusive blend for British Airways, making it only available at 35,000ft for customers in the airline’s Club World cabin.
Adam Williams, sales director at Balfour, believes the new listing will create “new audiences and opportunities” for English wine on an international scale.
Later in the year Simpsons Chalklands Cuvée Brut NV from Kent will be available from October for three months. The last of the four wines on offer over the year-long trial will be Wiston Estate Brut NV from the South Downs from January 2024.
Simon Thorpe MW, CEO of WineGB, told The Telegraph that British Airways was “really are flying the flag for wines from Britain”. He said: “It brings fantastic exposure both for the wines themselves and for the category as a whole.”
The introduction of these four wines to Club World will be a first for the airline, with Hattingley Valley from Hampshire previously being the only English fizz available in the First cabin.
British Airways has also launched Whispering Angel Provence Rosé and The Pale, curated from the same Château d’Esclans vineyards.
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