Delta Air Lines has announced updates to its business class wine program, meaning that Delta One passengers can look forward to a new selection of wines. As usual, Delta’s announcement would make you think that the airline is reinventing the wheel, and doing something that has never been done before.
Delta rolls out new business class wines, with Napa Valley focus
As of October 1, 2026, Delta One business class passengers can look forward to a new selection of wines onboard flights.
Let’s start with what I’d consider to be the best news. We know that Delta has been partnering with Taittinger, and that has been the standard champagne in Delta One business class on long haul flights. With this change, the airline will also start serving Taittinger on domestic Delta One flights, replacing the previous 2019 vintage cat urine that was on offer. Delta has historically just completely dropped the ball on its domestic Delta One wines, so this is excellent.
I imagine we’re seeing this change due to competitive dynamics in the industry, including that United has started marketing its premium transcon flights as Polaris business class, with upgraded lounge access and more.
Beyond that, Delta One wines are being completely overhauled. The airline claims it has evaluated 1,600 wines, and has narrowed that down to 13 wines from 11 winery partners. Delta is putting a big focus on Napa Valley here, as all the US wines will be from Napa Valley.
There will also be a selection of global wines, from France, Spain, and New Zealand.
One interesting angle here is that Delta included a panel of SkyMiles members in the curation of these wines, and they participated in blind tastings, to decide which they liked most. However, I can’t help but chuckle at how the press release points out how “wines that perform beautifully on the ground don’t always translate the same way in the air,” yet the taste test took place… on the ground.
Lol, Delta is so good at being a “lifestyle brand”
I really get a kick out of reading Delta press releases, and this one is no exception. As someone who sort of hates our BS culture of just exaggerating everything, this both amuses me and drives me up the wall.
But I get that Delta is successful at being a cool lifestyle brand, so the airline can’t just be like “hey guys, here’s some stuff you can drink that’s half decent.” Instead, of course, the airline has a press release with over 1,500 words about how life changing all of this is, and about how Delta flyers don’t just drink wine, they explore the globe with their taste buds, and all that jazz.
As far as Delta is concerned, this wine is “designed to resonate with seasoned enthusiasts and curious explorers,” and the airline’s wine program is “designed to remove the intimidation often associated with wine, replace it with curiosity.” Delta also claims that “wine has the power to tell stories in a uniquely personal way,” and the goal is to “make wine more approachable, more versatile, and deeply connected to the people, places and craftsmanship behind every bottle.”
Great, there’s no denying that wine is a huge industry that a lot of people are passionate about. But let’s be honest, when it comes to flying business class, most of us are just looking to have a few glasses of whatever is most drinkable so we can knock ourselves out and get a few hours of sleep on an overnight flight.
Here’s perhaps the wildest part of the announcement, though:
Delta’s industry-leading Sky Sommelier program, the first of its kind, ensures flight attendant leaders are expertly trained to deliver premium hospitality and elevate the wine experience onboard, for any customers who may have questions about the selections.
Sorry, Delta thinks it’s the first airline to have trained its flight attendants in wine? And Delta thinks its wine training program for flight attendants is industry-leading? Does the world otherwise consist only of Frontier and Global Airlines, or what happened to Emirates, Singapore Airlines, and countless other airlines that have long had flight attendants knowledgeable about wine?
I’ve gotta say, this is one of the things that I really respect about American Airlines. When the airline announces updated wines, it’s just like “hey, here are some new wines you might like,” rather than all this mumbo jumbo. I think American might just be too honest of an airline to be a “lifestyle brand,” like Delta… and to me that’s appealing.
Bottom line
On October 1, 2026, Delta One business class will be getting new wines. Delta will start serving Taittinger champagne in Delta One on domestic flights, which is awesome. On top of that, we’ll see fully overhauled wines on international flights, with a focus on Napa Valley, France, Spain, and New Zealand.
What do you make of Delta’s new wine program?
Patz & Hall is a nice wine for an airline to serve.
Screw the wine. Delta’s serving Fresca. That’s a win all day
Why don't you be honest and say that these are the wineries that are willing to slip in the mind control drugs that are the only logical reason why people keep flying the most evil airline in the world?
Tim's not here anymore. You can cut your Deltaphobic insults.
Or do you actually miss Tim?
"I wonder when the alcohol obsession will go away"
Same, you can also add coffee to that.
It's all cat piss to me, but you have people willing to die on the hill of which brown-stained water, is more worthy of spending 15 times what it costs to produce, on.
So dumb.
Caffeine and Sugar are the biggest conspiracy ever.
Followed by alcohol and tobacco.
Opioid crisis is child's play.
Silver Oak has got to be one of the most overpriced of the already overpriced and uninteresting Napa Cabs out there. It makes me sad that US airlines have to serve wines that peaked in popularity in the 1990s. I guess they want a label that people have heard of – 95% of business travelers will care more about the label equity than the taste equity – but it shows so little imagination.
That's why after a 70% discount for Delta, it's still a win-win.
They certainly got Lucky to write about it
Good to see, buried in the press release, that their named "Master Sommelier" still has a job after that canned wine debacle in 2022-2023. She's been oddly quiet the last few years. Other than that, looks like they rounded-up some VIP DL-360s and did a focus group. Marketing uses AI to blast this to a novella length press release, and we all feel more "premium" having read it and dig into our pockets deeper for the experience.
miss him
Oh, he's around - just not recently on here. You might also find him wandering your local airport check-in babbling about "premium restraining orders".
Lufthansa has test dining rooms on the ground that are pressurized the same as an airline cabin at cruising altitude. Maybe Delta has the same? Delta wants to be premium but is getting crushed by United. When Southwest announces their first class cabin in December, Delta will be third.
And yet what LH and LX serve is one of the most mediocre collection of wines.
UNITED leading the way and nice to see the others follow
other airlines scrambling to catch up with UA is about the only time "trickle down" actually does benefit the little guy
I really hate that they're calling the Cabernet Sauvignons just Cabernet. That sounds like something an American that doesn't know anything about wine would order at Capital Grill. I think I would be more OK if they called it Cab Sauv.
As an American, all I need to know about wine is "box or screw-cap".
"Petite Chablis".
All you need to know....
I laughed too when I saw that. Premium airline!
Man, all this emphasis, and SWISS still comes out on top with their Swiss reds and Zurich-produced G&T.
I understand that Delta wants to do an overhaul of its wine program every now and then, and I understand that they want to focus on American wines as they're from the USA. But, honestly, my experience with American wines is that most are as subtle as a Lada with a leaking exhaust, yet priced as if it's a brand new Ferrari.
What actually would be a huge improvement is if they can teach...
I understand that Delta wants to do an overhaul of its wine program every now and then, and I understand that they want to focus on American wines as they're from the USA. But, honestly, my experience with American wines is that most are as subtle as a Lada with a leaking exhaust, yet priced as if it's a brand new Ferrari.
What actually would be a huge improvement is if they can teach their staff about wine pairings. You know, to give some educated recommendations of which wine goes best with what food. Usually the menu is very limited to two or three starters and mains and so is the wine list, so that shouldn't be too much of a puzzle.
Why not just put recommended pairings on the inflight menu?
" But let’s be honest, when it comes to flying business class, most of us are just looking to have a few glasses of whatever is most drinkable so we can knock ourselves out and get a few hours of sleep on an overnight flight."
Preach!
But great news for delta updating their wines
As we have seen before, there is a huge difference between what Delta advertises and what Delta caters. Especially in out-stations.
After all, the current domestic chardonnay is the "free" chardonnay served in Sku Club lounges.
Let's wait to see if the champagne actually makes it on each and every domestic Delta One flight.
With that said, I think the addition of sancerre (sauvignon blanc from Sancerre in France) is good. The petit chablis...
As we have seen before, there is a huge difference between what Delta advertises and what Delta caters. Especially in out-stations.
After all, the current domestic chardonnay is the "free" chardonnay served in Sku Club lounges.
Let's wait to see if the champagne actually makes it on each and every domestic Delta One flight.
With that said, I think the addition of sancerre (sauvignon blanc from Sancerre in France) is good. The petit chablis is marginal. They could have done chablis but didn't want to pay for it. Both are obviously 100% chardonnay from Chablis but petit chablis is, generally, a cheaper version as it's produced, generally, from inferior vineyards.
Great headline! Here I was thinking it was "Delta One Business Class Gets New Wine Program, And [These Wines Are So Good That] I Need A Drink…" Instead it's "Delta One Business Class Gets New Wine Program, And [I'm So Over This Crap That] I Need A Drink… Haha!
I wonder to what extent all of these press releases are just written by AI these days. Might as well since they have so little substance and grounding in reality.
I stopped reading at "PetitE Chablis". Come on...
Napa valley is probably the most underwhelming and overpriced wine region in the world. Mostly hype and marketing BS.
This sounds like a good improvement, and bringing Taittinger to domestic Delta One is very welcome. I also smiled at Delta explaining that wines can taste very different at altitude while conducting the SkyMiles member tasting on the ground, though. I also agree about giving American some credit for the “here are some new wines” approach. Sometimes wine can just be wine.
After evaluating 1,600 wines, surely there must’ve been room in the budget for...
This sounds like a good improvement, and bringing Taittinger to domestic Delta One is very welcome. I also smiled at Delta explaining that wines can taste very different at altitude while conducting the SkyMiles member tasting on the ground, though. I also agree about giving American some credit for the “here are some new wines” approach. Sometimes wine can just be wine.
After evaluating 1,600 wines, surely there must’ve been room in the budget for a tasting flight, no?
"After evaluating 1,600 wines....
....we found just 42 that were prepared to offer us the insanely big discount we demand, then we whittled that down in an afternoon of tasting on Zoom. Job done"
Interesting - Silver Oak is not inexpensive and not usually that much is produced, although it’s probably their Alexander Valley rather than the Napa Valley, although sure they’re from the same region.
Still, 12 new wines - wonder what the spread of how they will cater them will be.
Probably 1 bottle of each for 42 business class passengers, then load up on cheaper stuff, so that: 1) they can say they offer it, and 2) so that they don't have to spend too much money on actually providing it to everyone... *insert corporate double-speak* "...while supplies last."
We this now on flights. The incoming flight is double catered because Delta doesn't have a contract at many of its out stations. So, the passengers on the return flight don't have any wine to drink.
Reading DL's press releases causes the same effect as drinking.
I wonder when the alcohol obsession will go away, in particular with airport and airplane alcohol.
I fly on a plane to go somewhere, not drink fermented grapes. If I wanted to do that I'd go on a wine tour.
Gen Z and younger generations are increasingly drink less as well, so this will all eventually become background noise.
When the cost of living has doubled to tripled in a few years, people have less...
I wonder when the alcohol obsession will go away, in particular with airport and airplane alcohol.
I fly on a plane to go somewhere, not drink fermented grapes. If I wanted to do that I'd go on a wine tour.
Gen Z and younger generations are increasingly drink less as well, so this will all eventually become background noise.
When the cost of living has doubled to tripled in a few years, people have less disposable income to care about drinking an expensive bottle of fruit juice.
Umm, you buried the lede… “When the cost of living has doubled to tripled in a few years, people have less disposable income to care about…” travel, in-general, and business class, specifically, forget alcohol.
In my experience people give up alcohol last when they’re in a cost of living crisis.
Gen Z and younger are drinking less because they're switching to cheap weed.
Nah, they're addicted to over-priced Starbucks.
@UncleRonnie: True, but mostly will stick to a Crap Deluxe a Petit Budget, mis en bouteille au Chateau Migraine. Not the fancy stuff.
@Tee Jay: depends on where in the world you are I guess. Most young people here stick to addictive energy drinks and snus (nicotine pouches), not weed.
@Tee Jay "I believe the children are the future, teach them well and let them WEED the way" - Crack-addled philosopher from the 1980s
It is cheaper than upgrading the food and staffing premium cabin with more FAs.
Should have included… ‘a nice Chianti’
To go with the liver and fava beans?
That should have been Amarone.