Wines on the Wing Airline Wine Competition Winners

Global Traveler is proud to announce the return of its Wines on the Wing airline wine competition after a brief pause and to release the results of the survey’s 18th tasting.

The April 9 competition took place at City Winery in New York City. Judges participated in a blind tasting of airlines’ white, red and sparkling wines. Judges included winemakers, sommeliers, wine shop owners and other wine industry executives.

Airlines must submit five different wines — two red wines, two white wines and one sparkling wine/Champagne — to be eligible for the overall Best International First-Class Wines on the Wing award or Best International Business-Class Wines on the Wing award. This year, the winner for Best International First-Class Wines on the Wing was STARLUX Airlines, and the winner for Best International Business-Class Wines on the Wing was Qatar Airways.

In the white wine category, Best International First-Class White Wine was Schloss Gobelsburg, Ried Grub | 1 Kamptal, submitted by STARLUX. For business class, the winner was United Airlines with Château de Cruzeau Grand Vin de Bordeaux 2020.

The best first-class Champagne was a tie between Air France and British Airways, both serving Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle Grand Cuvée. The best business-class Champagne was Qatar Airways’ Champagne Gosset Brut Grande Reserve.

When it came to red wine, STARLUX reigned supreme in the first-class category with Château Bélair-Monange Premier Grand Cru Classé, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 2014. Brussels Airlines took the No. 1 business-class spot with Château Clement-Pichon Cru Bourgeois Supêrieur Haut-Médoc 2018.

“This year’s renewal of the Wines on the Wing was a great gathering to celebrate both the airline and wine industry and how they pair so well with each other,” said Tom Gannon, director, Wines on the Wing airline wine competition, and sommelier and co-founder of Harlem Standard. “All of the judges and I agreed the wines and wine programs from the participating airlines were truly world class and there was not a wine poured that we would not happily drink or serve. We thank City Winery for providing such a wonderful venue and the airlines for their commitment to their passengers in providing so many fine and well-considered options in their wine programs. Cheers to an incredible WOW 2024 and let’s raise a glass to what is to come with WOW 2025!”

For the 13th year, Global Traveler also awarded the Best North American Wines on the Wing. North American airlines submitted first- and business-class wine samples, depending on their domestic flight offerings. To qualify for this category, airlines must fly from one point in North America to another point in North America.

American Airlines was named Best North American Wines on the Wing, and also won for its Champagne, Boizel Brut Reserve, and its white wine, Aussieres Chardonnay 2022. Alaska Airlines won Best North American Red Wine with Browne Family Vineyards Red Blend 2022.

For the 10th year, Global Traveler awarded Best Alliance Wines on the Wing. The participating airlines were divided by airline alliance. The overall points for each airline were tallied and averaged to determine the alliance with the highest total. Congratulations to oneworld, Best Alliance Wines on the Wing.

Global Traveler is the only U.S.-based publication to conduct such a survey in the United States.