US-based Global Traveler magazine (it’s painful to do, but in this case I must spell ‘traveller’ the US way) recently conducted a survey to find the best business class in-flight wines. Austrian Airlines came first, scoring highly across all categories, with its Champagne, both its white wines and one red wine all placed in the top ten lists for their respective categories. Qatar Airlines came a very close second.

The Top 10 Airlines for Business Class Wines were:

1. Austrian Airlines
2. Qatar Airways
3. TAM Brazilian Airlines
4. South African Airways
5. Emirates
6. Mexicana Airlines
7. LAN Airlines
8. Jet Airways
9. Lufthansa
10. American Airlines

I’m a somewhat of a frequent flyer myself, but finances dictate that I join the rest of the cattle in economy. Being a regular passenger of Ryanair, I couldn’t upgrade even if I wanted to, although I do like the idea of free standing seats (they’re still looking at doing this, according to the in-flight magazine). I found the wines on offer to economy passengers on British Airways and Qantas flights to be fairly decent, despite not making it into the top 10 for business class flyers. Qantas is currently serving Langmeil’s blockbuster, the Valley Floor Shiraz, on various flights worldwide.

“This time next year, Rodney…” and all that, but if I ever strike oil you know who I’ll be flying with and where I’ll be sat. One can always dream, eh?