Top airlines awarded for their cellars in the sky

The results of the Business Traveller Cellars in the Sky Awards 2008 were announced today, at the Business Travel Show at Earls Court 2. For more than two decades Business Traveller, the premium magazine for business travellers, has organised the annual Cellars in the Sky Awards.

The awards are for the best airline wines served on long-haul flights in business class and first class. Over the course of two days in November, blind tastings of more than 200 bottles were held at the Park Plaza County Hall in London.

There were four judges: Charles Metcalfe, well known as a TV wine presenter and wine critic, and co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge; Tim Atkin, Master of Wine, wine columnist for the Observer, co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge (IWC) and co-founder of The Wine Gang (thewinegang.com); Joanna Simon, wine columnist for The Sunday Times, co-founder of The Wine Gang and author of several books on wine; and Derek Smedley, Master of Wine for more than 40 years, co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge, and consultant to many organisations particularly in the City of London.

Charles Metcalfe said of the 2008 competition:

“There are some wonderful wines among this year’s winners. Some carriers really succeed in finding fine wines that suit the conditions of air travel. It’s not enough just going for a famous name. Not all wines that taste great on the ground will work in the air. It’s not easy to find wines that satisfy the expectations of a business or first-class traveller and taste good on board.

“It was very rewarding spending two days tasting all the wines that had been entered. We have tried to select the wines we thought would really please business and first-class flyers. Congratulations to the winners for their hard work choosing them. These winning wines will really contribute to a positive in-flight experience.”

This year 29 airlines entered a selection of their wines, and after a two-day blind tasting organised by Business Traveller magazine the winners of the following categories were announced:

Business Class
Best Business Class White Wine – Qatar Airways
Best Business Class Red Wine – Cathay Pacific
Best Business Class Sparkling Wine – joint winners: KLM, Singapore Airlines
Best Business Class Fortified or Sweet Wine – Air New Zealand

First Class
Best First Class White Wine – Lufthansa
Best First Class Red Wine – Qatar Airways
Best First Class Sparkling Wine – Lufthansa
Best First Class Fortified or Sweet Wine – Qantas

The Cellars
Best Business Class Wine Cellar – KLM
Best First Class Wine Cellar – Lufthansa

Overall
Consistency of Wines across Business and First Class – Lufthansa
Most Informative Wine List – Air New Zealand
Best Alliance- Star Alliance.

After a brief presentation of the awards by Charles Metcalfe, co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge, there will be a chance to visit the Business Traveller stand 811 at the Business Travel Show to sample some of the winning wines.

For more information, log on to Businesstraveller.com.