American Airlines Joins Trend, Replaces Champagne with Italian Fizz in Premium Cabins
American Airlines is the latest carrier to replace champagne in its first and business class areas, now offering Ferrari Trento DOC Italian sparkling wine.
Simply Flying reports that this change was implemented by the new CEO, Robert Isom, who assumed his position in April of the previous year.
Going forward, the airline will serve Ferrari brut from Trentino, crafted exclusively with Chardonnay grape.
Ferrari describes this wine, consistently rated highly at blind tastings, as lively and bright straw yellow, possessing a fresh and intense aroma. It showcases a broad fruitiness, reminiscent of ripe Golden Delicious apples, white flowers, and a delicate yeast scent, stemming from 20 months of bottle aging.
In various online flight forums, people were quick to assert that this switch to Italian sparkling wine should not be considered a downgrade from champagne. Some even expressed disappointment that American Airlines opted for Italian bubbles rather than American sparkling wines, which might have been obtained for a comparable price. They cited examples like Argyle and other award-winning producers, mainly located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
This trend isn’t isolated to American Airlines; other airlines, like Finnair, are also substituting champagne with different sparkling wines. Finnair, for instance, now offers Bernard-Massard Cuvée de l’Ecusson sparkling wine from Luxembourg on its shorter flights.
