English Sparkling Wine Gains Altitude In British Airways Cabins
A bottle of Nyetimber English sparkling wine, part of the airline's new premium in-flight drinks selection.
English sparkling wine, once a curiosity outside the United Kingdom, is now reaching new heights—literally. British Airways has introduced a rotation of English sparkling wines, including limited prestige cuvée bottlings, to its First and Club World cabins on all long-haul flights.
The move reflects both a strategic shift and a broader confidence in the quality of English sparkling wine. Tim Jackson, the airline's Master of Wine, says this is not a temporary trial.
'As the nation's flag carrier, we are always looking at ways to champion originality and British provenance, and serving English sparkling wine across our long-haul network is a key example of that,' he says, via email.
British Airways has offered English sparkling wine in First Class for more than a decade. The addition to Club World, its business class cabin, began in 2023. But British Airways is also now the first airline to serve prestige cuvée English sparkling wines onboard.
The decision to now include prestige cuvée expressions—rare, extended-aged bottlings made from top vintages—signals how far English wine has advanced.
'A prestige cuvée is an exceptional wine made using the best grapes from outstanding vintages,' Jackson says. 'Only a handful of English wine houses produce prestige cuvée wines, which is still a relatively new phenomenon in England and a growing accolade across the wine industry.'
Sales of English sparkling wine have risen as much as 187%, from 2.2 million bottles in 2018 to 6.2 million in 2023, according to WineGB. In 2023 alone, the U.K. produced 21.6 million bottles of wine, the majority of which were sparkling.
Despite this upward trajectory, the industry faced challenges in 2024 due to adverse weather conditions, leading to heavy crop losses. Nevertheless, the overall expansion and increasing recognition of English sparkling wine underscore its rising prominence in both domestic and international markets. The U.K.'s wine industry at large now encompasses more than 1,000 vineyards covering 4,209 hectares—a 123% increase over the past decade.
He attributes this recent ascent to a combination of geology, climate and winemaking ambition. Southeast England's chalk soils, similar to those in France's Champagne region, have helped produce wines that are increasingly winning international attention.
'There are a few elements that distinguish prestige cuvée wines from other English sparkling options,' Jackson explains. 'This includes the highest quality fruit, the skill and ambition of the pioneering British producers themselves, who have realized England's potential and craft wines of prestige cuvée quality, as well as an extended ageing process, meaning the wines have extra time to develop depth, texture and creaminess.'
These selections are more than symbolic. The wines are served in the challenging environment of a pressurized cabin, where air dryness and reduced pressure can diminish aroma and alter perception. Jackson and his team accounted for these variables when curating the list.
'At altitude, cabin dryness reduces flavor perception while the reduced cabin pressure can make bubbles in sparkling wine larger,' he says. 'We therefore look for wine that has great depth of flavor and fine bubbles at ground level, so we know that it will taste great at altitude too.'
Passengers' views are also part of the equation. British Airways uses surveys, direct feedback and focus groups to monitor and adjust its onboard selections. 'Feedback confirmed the popularity of English sparkling wine when we first introduced the program over two years ago in Club World,' he says.
The airline's latest offering includes a rotating list of English sparkling wines that change every three months. The current slate includes rosés, timed to match seasonal menus and anticipated demand.
The selection process is blind, with quality as the guiding criterion. 'All our wine selections undergo blind taste testing, where the quality of wines from these producers stood out in the tasting,' Jackson says. 'This means our customers will now be able to enjoy original sparkling variations from pioneering English wine houses at 35,000 feet.'
This initiative is part of British Airways' broader effort to promote domestic producers and align its onboard offerings with its national identity. 'Showcasing British originality is an integral part of our offering,' Jackson says. 'That's why we are weaving our British Original positioning throughout every step of the customer journey, which also forms an important part of our £7 billion ($9.2 million) investment plan.'
He also draws a historical link to the drink's origins: 'Since it was an Englishman, Christopher Merret, who first wrote the method for creating sparkling wines in 1662, English fizz is a sparkling example of British originality.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
5 hours ago
- Politico
Ketanji Brown Jackson has earned nearly $3M from her memoir, financial disclosures show
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has joined the ranks of the Supreme Court's most highly-paid authors by collecting a book advance totaling almost $3 million for her memoir, according to a financial disclosure released Tuesday. Jackson reported receiving $2 million of the advance last year for the book, on top of about $900,000 she was paid in 2023 by publisher Penguin Random House. The book, 'Lovely One,' reached No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list after its release last September. The amount paid to the court's newest justice is roughly the same figure Justice Sonia Sotomayor received as an advance for her 2014 autobiography, 'My Beloved World.' Her disclosure released Tuesday reports that she received about $132,000 last year from Penguin Random House for her past books and a forthcoming one. Sotomayor has earned a total of $3.9 million in advances and royalties from her books, according to Fix the Court, a watchdog group that analyzes the justices' annual financial disclosures. That's the highest book-related income of any current justice. Three other justices have earned more than $1 million in income from books they have written, according to Fix the Court's analysis: Jackson at $2.9 million, Clarence Thomas at $1.5 million and Neil Gorsuch at $1.4 million. Gorsuch reported in his new disclosure Tuesday a $250,000 advance last year from publisher HarperCollins for a book he co-authored about overregulation, 'Over Ruled.' Justice Amy Coney Barrett is also writing a book, due out in September, titled 'Listening to the Law,' and published by an imprint of Penguin. She received a $425,000 advance for it in 2021. Justice Samuel Alito was the only justice whose required financial disclosure was not released Tuesday. Alito delayed filing his report, as he has done each year for the past decade. Alito requested a 90-day extension, a spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said Tuesday as the reports from the eight other active justices and two retired justices were made public. The book-related payments to the justices have sometimes complicated their judicial work. Sotomayor has faced criticism in the past for not recusing herself from cases involving Penguin Random House. But last month, Sotomayor did recuse herself from considering a petition for the court to take up a case that involved Penguin's parent company, Bertelsmann. Four other justices also recused themselves, with most of those recusals likely triggered by the justices' book deals, though none of the justices explained why they were stepping aside. The result was that the court lacked a quorum, so a lower court's ruling in the case was automatically left in place. The lower court had dismissed a lawsuit against the company and various other publishers and authors. The justices' book deals may prompt more recusals in the coming months in higher-profile cases. Penguin is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed in 2023 against Florida officials over their efforts to restrict the availability of books in public school libraries. The justices' financial disclosures have faced scrutiny in recent years after revelations about undeclared gifts that some of the justices received, as well as expensive trips that were provided to Thomas and Alito by billionaire friends. The justices are required to disclose gifts valued at more than $480. This year, only Sotomayor disclosed any gifts. She said she accepted a $1,437 trip to Kansas City, Missouri, last August from a theater company there that was workshopping an adaptation of her diversity-themed children's book, 'Just Ask!' Sotomayor also said she received a gift of legal treatises that she donated to the Supreme Court's collection. Of the eight justices whose disclosures were released Tuesday, seven of them reported taking trips last year that were paid for by others. Only Thomas did not report any travel reimbursements. Jackson appeared to receive the most travel reimbursements. She reported 17 trips, all within the U.S. Most were part of her book tour and paid for by her publisher. Sotomayor spent 12 days in Europe last July at the expense of New York University and the University of Zurich in connection with speaking at events hosted by those schools. She also reported swapping a ticket she had bought for an unspecified concert last July for another less valuable one that offered 'greater security than the original seating.' Chief Justice John Roberts reported being reimbursed for his travel expenses to teach a two-week course in Galway, Ireland, last July sponsored by the New England School of Law called 'The Supreme Court of the United States in Historical Perspective.' The class was co-taught by Harvard Law Professor Richard Lazarus, who was Roberts' roommate when both attended Harvard Law. Roberts and several other justices reported receiving compensation for teaching classes. Roberts also reported a one-eighth interest in a cottage in County Limerick, Ireland, that he reportedly owns along with other family members. It isn't much of a money-maker. He reported taking in less than $1,000 in rent for it in 2024 and valued his share at less than $15,000. The released financial disclosures don't capture the justices' full wealth, because assets like homes, federal government retirement accounts and treasury securities don't need to be disclosed. However, the financial picture the forms do provide suggest Justice Brett Kavanaugh has the smallest investment portfolio. Kavanaugh reported as his only investments bank accounts worth in total between $100,000 and $250,000 and a Texas retirement account worth less than $15,000 that likely belongs to his wife, who was an aide to George W. Bush when he served as Texas governor. Most of the justices will make $303,600 in salary this year. Roberts, as the chief, gets a bit more: $317,500.
USA Today
6 hours ago
- USA Today
Lamar Jackson declines to discuss contract negotiations during Ravens minicamp
Lamar Jackson declines to discuss contract negotiations during Ravens minicamp Lamar Jackson spoke to the media for the first time since the Ravens AFC divisional round loss and declined to address his contract negotiations with the Baltimore Ravens Lamar Jackson returned to the Under Armour Performance Center to take part in Baltimore's first day of mandatory minicamp. The two-time AP MVP looked sharp, motivated, and happy to be back among his teammates. Jackson and the Ravens are in the midst of contract negotiations, and the star quarterback had no interest in discussing where those initial talks have led. During March's NFL owners' meetings in Florida, head coach John Harbaugh confirmed that Jackson is due for a new deal that will once again make him the highest-paid player in NFL history. Former sports agent and CBS Sports lead analyst Joel Corry masterfully broke down the leverage Jackson again holds over the franchise with his 2026 and 2027 cap hits being unworkable for the organization. As Corry pointed out, Jackson just finished the second year of a five-year, $260 million contract signed with the Baltimore Ravens on May 4, 2023. Of this, $185 million is guaranteed, of which $135 million was fully guaranteed at signing. As of this article, Jackson is the 10th highest-paid quarterback in the NFL after Brock Purdy's new contract. Corry highlighted that based on recent trends with Dak Prescott and Josh Allen, Jackson can justify $65.5 million to $67 million per year" for a contract extension he signs in the coming months. With inflation and an adjustment for the 24.2% increase of the salary cap since he signed in 2023, Jackson could command upwards of $64.5 million per year.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Europe's biggest threat isn't from Putin or Trump
The biggest threat to Europe isn't Vladimir Putin. It isn't Donald Trump. In fact, it isn't even coming from outside the European Union. No, the biggest threat to Europe is bubbling up from within, and its leaders don't even realize it: The continent has gotten so enraged at foreign leaders threatening its borders that it has lost sight of how far it has fallen — and how quickly it must save itself. For years Europe struggled to grasp that energy security and national security are one and the same. That ended with Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, and the loss of the cheap gas that had powered European manufacturers. After more than three years of war, it is clear that neither the US nor Europe will supply sufficient weapons, manpower, or money to defeat Russia: Out of an audience of some 100 delegates at the GLOBSEC conference in Prague last week, the only one who was still betting that US President Donald Trump can achieve peace was Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha — yet even he told me that he no longer believed in miracles. Now, Europe is fighting facts again, this time about itself. In a report last year, former Italian Prime Minister and ex-European Central Bank President Mario Draghi warned of the danger Europe's economic stagnation poses for its sovereignty. He told us that high energy costs and taxation are crippling European competitiveness. The continent's latest argument — that billions of additional dollars for European defense will dig the continent out of the doldrums — has merit, and no doubt governments turning on the taps should expect economic gains: Germany's Kiel Institute estimates Europe's long-term productivity could rise by as much as 0.25 percent for every 1 percent of GDP spent on military research. But that's hardly enough to kick start the continent out of 'managed decline,' nor is it likely to make a dent in wide-ranging competitions with countries like the US and China. And while the idea that strengthening the continent's military industrial complex could be the catalyst for an innovation boom is possible, deeper issues remain: You cannot tax and regulate your way to growth. Nor can you expect to project strength on trade, manufacturing, or defense when you lack the competitiveness of your rivals. So what's holding Europe back? At a side session in Prague, I questioned a roundtable of policy advisors, including an ex-finance minister and a former Nato deputy secretary general. Their nationalities: British, Czech, German, Romanian, and Slovak. They all agreed Europe has the economic heft to get good trade deals, but they didn't know, or disagreed on, how to do so. They talked about the need for each country to 'focus on its strengths' but couldn't lay out a plan to do so. And when it came to addressing high energy prices, they agreed that a single EU market was essential, despite agreement amongst energy executives that it can't and shouldn't be attempted. The highlights (or lowlights, depending on your persuasion) though came on nuclear energy, with the German on the panel blaming the French (not represented) for cutting back the availability of nuclear energy for German consumption, thus making it more expensive, whilst refusing to own the blame: It is Germany's shutdown of nuclear reactors that is hampering industrial output, not French restrictions. And a question about fostering innovation took a nostalgic turn, as panelists remembered the days when Volkswagen created the Beetle, a car for the masses — instead of the current situation, where the company's failure to invest in EVs has Chinese firms putting them out of business. Ultimately, I was left wondering what lessons were really learned from putting all the energy eggs in Putin's basket if, three years on from the invasion of Ukraine, Europe continues to amble along without any concrete action towards increased productivity and economic growth. Russia was able to put Europe on the back foot precisely because of the continent's failure to accept that economic security — the ability to support, secure, and manage its supply chains — is a prerequisite for national security. That, not an invading strongman or a protectionist president, is Europe's greatest threat. Economic growth may be languid in Europe, but that doesn't mean it's not an attractive investment destination: In fact, a growing number of major investors are opting for the EU over the US, as much for the continent's potential as for the uncertainty across the Atlantic. The latest example is Aware Super, one of Australia's largest pension funds with $124 billion under management, whose chief executive told the Financial Times that she saw a 'really significant opportunity for Europe and the UK.'
