Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Fort Worth-based American Airlines wins more awards for its in-flight wines

By Pegasus News wire

Judges at an international wine-tasting competition have raised their glasses to American Airlines, twice selecting the airline's wine offerings as tops in their class.

American's wines were winners of two prestigious Cellars in the Sky 2007 Awards, announced at the Business Travel Show in London. American Airlines was named as having the Best Business Class Wine Cellar for overall selection. In addition, American was chosen as offering the Best Business Class Fortified or Sweet Wine with its La Plaza Vieja, Medium Golden, Emilio Lustau.

Cellars in the Sky is an annual competition organized by Business Traveller Magazine and in association with Wine & Spirit Magazine and the International Wine Challenge. This year, 26 airlines from around the world entered a selection of their finest wines for tasting by a panel of wine experts and connoisseurs. Judges evaluated more than 200 different wines in a blind taste test conducted over two days.

"American Airlines believes that fine wine, along with savory cuisine, is an important aspect of the overall travel experience in premium class," said Lauri Curtis, American's Vice President - Onboard Service. "We're delighted that some of the world's most knowledgeable experts have recognized the outstanding quality of our Business Class wines, and we're proud to offer customers the finest selection of wines in the sky."

American's in-flight wines are selected by the airline's Dallas-based wine consultant, Diane Teitelbaum, a wine expert with nearly 30 years of experience in the field. Teitelbaum has responsibility for choosing the nearly 60 different wines served each month on American's flights.

American maintains 15 different wine lists, specially selected for various routes. Recently, American began offering specific wine recommendations -- prepared by Teitelbaum -- for First and Business Class customers on board the airline's transcontinental flights. The recommended pairing of specific wines with certain foods not only helps enhance the dining experience, it also educates customers about fine wines.

In addition, American also produces an online pamphlet describing in detail each route's wine selections. To view the current list of American's award-winning wines, visit the Web site. The Cellars in the Sky 2007 Awards are the latest honors American has received for its inflight wine selection. Last August, American earned accolades in two categories from Global Traveler magazine in that publication's annual "Wines on the Wing" International Business Class Airline Wine Competition. And last February, American was named a winner in two categories at the Cellars in the Sky 2006 Awards, including Best First Class Wine Cellar for overall selection.

Source: American Airlines

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• Food and Drink > Wine

Comments

Donna Chen Verified

"American Airlines believes that fine wine, along with savory cuisine, is an important aspect of the overall travel experience in premium class," Just not in coach. Those god-awful "sandwiches" do not deserve the $5 price tag.

The wine award for Coach Class passengers goes to Northwest Airlines, who offers complimentary wines to their Coach Class passengers on international flights. Yay, free wine for us peasants!

8 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

kirk Anonymous

Yay, Diane Teitelbaum!

Donna: Last time I flew American on a Transatlantic route, they also offered free wine to coach passengers. Has that practice stopped?

8 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Donna Chen Verified

Last time I flew international on American was trans-pacific (why does that sound so weird?) and there was no vino for the coach passengers. That was two years ago though.

8 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Scott Doyle Verified

Don't worry, China's going to overthrow our government soon enough and trans-pacific will sound quite normal.

8 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )