American Airlines ditches Champagne for Ferrari

American Airlines has become the latest airline to move away from Champagne with the company now serving Ferrari Trento DOC Italian fizz in first and business class areas.

According to Simply Flying, the move was put in place by the new chief executive officer Robert Isom, who took office in April last year.

The airline will now serve the Ferrari brut from Trentino, which is produced with 100% Chardonnay grapes.

The wine, which has consistently received high scores at blind tastings, is described by Ferrari as “lively, bright straw yellow in colour with a fresh and intense bouquet on the nose, with a broad fruity note of ripe Golden Delicious apples, white flowers and a delicate scent of yeast” that is derived from 20 months of ageing in the bottle.

On flight forums, many were quick to note that the wine should not be seen as a downgrade from Champagne, though some suggested that it was a “shame” that American Airlines didn’t serve American sparkling wine rather than Italian bubbles, which could have been acquired at a similar price point. Producers such as Argyle and a number of other award-winning sparkling makers, many of whom are located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, were touted as being more appropriate replacements.

The news follows on from other airlines also ditching Champagne for different sparkling wines, including Finnair which now serves Bernard-Massard Cuvée de l’Ecusson sparkling wine from Luxembourg on its short-haul flights.