Lufthansa's champagne voted “Best First Class” fizz

One of the champagnes served on board by Lufthansa has been voted the best in the world in the “Business Traveller“ Cellars in the Sky Awards 2007.

Lufthansa’s regular serving of Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 1997 won Best First Class Sparkling Wine in the awards, for the best airline wines served on long-haul flights in business and first class, announced this afternoon at the Business Travel Show in London.

After picking up the award, Marianne Sammann, Lufthansa’s General Manager UK & Ireland, said: “We at Lufthansa are proud of the standard of our onboard service. Our continuing passenger growth proves that the vast majority of air travellers still want a full service that is included within the cost of their ticket.

“The wines selected for the Lufthansa onboard service are all chosen in exactly the same way. We have about 30 to 35 wine tenders each year. The selection is made during 10 to 12 blind tastings where a team of internal and external wine experts taste and evaluate the wines.

“Markus Del Monego (World Champion Sommelier 1998 and Master of Wine), as the Lufthansa wine consultant, is head of this team and the assessment principles are smell, taste and harmony. The number of points per expert is added and the winner is the wine with the highest number of points. This means that only the quality of the wines is the final criteria.

“The Taittinger Comtes de Champagne was the winner in one of these blind tastings and we are naturally delighted that the award judges agreed with our experts”.

The Cellars in the Sky 2007 wine awards are run by Business Traveller magazine in association with the International Wine Challenge and Wine & Spirit Magazine.

The judges included Charles Metcalfe wine expert, author and co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge; Tim Atkin, Master of Wine (MW), wine columnist for the Observer, author and co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge; Joanna Simon, author and wine columnist for the Sunday Times and Anthony Rose, wine columnist for The Independent.

Charles Metcalfe said: “Cellars in the Sky rewards airlines who are making the effort to provide their Business and First-Class customers with imaginatively and carefully chosen wines that will enhance their in-flight experience. We work hard for two days to select the best of the best.”