In a bid to offer better inflight experience for business travellers, Emirates has been investing heavily in its world-class wine programme. In 2015, the airline purchased a record of over 13 million bottles of wine worth US$140 million – more than twice the value of wine purchases in the previous year.

The increasing investment is in response to the airline’s expanding network, and reflects its commitment to offering customers the best possible product. In 2015, Emirates’ customers consumed 11.4 million bottles of wine across all classes, with ten million single-serve bottles in Economy Class alone. This was a 27 percent increase from the year before, when nine million bottles of wine were consumed across all classes.

“In every aspect of our business, our aim is to provide the best experience for our customers and we have curated a wine program that is reflective of that promise,” says Tim Clark, president, Emirates Airline. “Over the years, we’ve built a wine programme that has garnered the interest of exclusive vineyards in the world, and we are proud of the fact that our wine lists are comparable to what you might find in a top restaurant in the best cities around the world.”

At the heart of Emirates’ wine strategy is its unique approach to purchasing exceptional wines en primeur – years before they are released to the market – and then allowing these vintages to mature and reach their potential before serving on board. While most airlines source their wines through brokers or tenders, Emirates’ own team of wine connoisseurs has built direct relationships with some of the world’s most prestigious vineyards to handpick and secure the most exclusive and rare wines for its customers. Since 2006, Emirates has invested US$690 million on wines, some of which will only be ready for drinking in 2025. The Emirates wine cellar, the largest of any airline, currently stores 2.2 million bottles of vintage wines.

Of the 2015 wine purchases for First Class and Business Class, close to half – 1.8 million bottles – came from the Bordeaux region. Bordeaux wines have always been a mainstay of the Emirates wine offering, with 60 percent of the red wine in First Class and Business Class coming from the region. Emirates has also expanded its Bordeaux offering, turning its focus to white wines from the region. For the first time this year, the airline has purchased wines such as Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux, the white wine variant of Château Margaux, as well as vintages of La Clarté de Haut-Brion, known to be rare and exclusive due to its small scale production. Other white Bordeaux wines that will be added to the airline’s wine list include Château Smith Haut Lafitte and Château Malartic-Lagravière.

Emirates has also placed great importance on wines from Burgundy and purchased directly from exclusive Grand cru vineyards such as Chevalier-Montrachet, Charmes-Chambertin, and Échezeaux. From the Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru region alone, considered to be amongst the finest of Burgundy’s white wines, the airline purchased 2,000 cases in 2015 – equivalent to ten percent of the total production in the region.

Other recent additions to the Emirates wine cellar include fine Italian wines such as Solaia and Ornellaia for First Class and Super Tuscan wine Tignanello, which will be added to the Business Class offering in the coming years. www.emirates.com