Sonoma’s Aperture Cellars makes its debut on United Airlines
Amidst fierce competition between carriers to curate the most unique wine list, United Airlines will pour Aperture Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon in its newly refreshed business class cabins from 1 October.
Hot on the heels of giving its business class ‘Polaris’ cabins a complete overhaul, United Airlines will offer Aperture Cabernet Sauvignon on board international flights from this month.
In May, the airline announced it was updating its business class area with a new Polaris Studio located in the first row of each business class cabin. New features include an ottoman seat, a 27-inch screen, and luxury dining options which include Ossetra caviar, one of the most prized and expensive types of caviar in the world, obtained from the ossetra sturgeon. It speaks volumes, therefore, about United’s confidence in Aperture’s flagship wine that it has chosen to serve it in its newly refreshed space.
Winemaker and founder Jesse Katz called having his wines on United Airlines “a true privilege”. Having travelled extensively with the airline while accompanying his photographer father to more than 80 countries as a child, Katz explained that United “has been instrumental in shaping my life’s journey, and igniting my love for travel.”
Continuing, he added: “To now share our flagship Cabernet Sauvignon with Polaris customers brings that story full circle—aligning the elevated standards of world-class wine with the refined hospitality of global travel, and celebrating the connections and lifelong memories they inspire.”
California clout
Founded in 2009, Aperture is headquartered in Healdsburg but has a number of wine properties across California, from Sonoma County and Alexander Valley to Geyserville, Clarksburg, and Bennett Valley. Aperture specialises in Bordeaux-style wines, and aims to demonstrate “what Bordeaux varieties in the cooler pockets of Sonoma are capable of.”
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Katz continues to snap up enviable sites in California to expand his offer. As db reported, Aperture acquired the 75-acre Alexander Valley estate Farrow Ranch in 2021, with Katz revealing plans to convert “as much of the vineyard as possible” to dry farming, eliminating any drip irrigation to the vines.
The current 2023 vintage of Aperture Cabernet Sauvignon, the expression that United Airlines will serve, contains “delicate inclusions of Petit Verdot and Malbec” and retails from US$75 per bottle when purchased directly from Aperture’s website. However, single-vineyard Cabernets by the producer start from about $150 per bottle.
The Hollywood touch
Katz is also a childhood friend of Hollywood actress Jessica Biel and it was after Katz gifted her and husband Justin Timberlake a bespoke barrel of wine for their wedding that Biel was inspired to launch her own wine collection Poet & Prophet. The star’s wine range, released in May this year, is produced by Katz at Aperture’s facilities and is largely centred around Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.
“The plan is to just keep keep blending away and every year have a vintage,” Biel told In Style. “The cool thing about this particular adventure with this company is there are no real guidelines. We can kind of produce whatever we want. I think also we’re kind of curious about what our clients and customers might say after we get some feedback.”
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