Hong Kong’s flagship airline Cathay Pacific has added four Chinese wines to its inflight dining program, which are now available for first and business class passengers, the first international airline to feature arguablly the widest selection of premium Chinese wines on board.
The wines, part of the airline’s “Discover Wine Series” are availble for passengers travelling in first and business class for all long haul and ultra long haul flights from 1 March 2024 to 31 May 2024, according to the company.
Since 2020, Cathay Pacific’s catering and hospitality team has launched the “Discovery Wine Series,” featuring various high-quality wine themes such as the earlier “Women in Wine Series,” with all wines made by leading female winemakers.
“The Discovery Wine series is our way bring to life an exceptional wine programme to evoke the joy of discovery,” Vivian Lo, General Manager Customer Experience and Design at Cathay Pacific, told Vino Joy News .
Speaking of the additions, Ronald Khoo, Wine, Spirits & Beverage Manager at Cathay Pacific, expanded, “The Chinese wine industry has progressed by leaps and bounds in recent years. We want to
showcase wines made by passionate individuals with the expertise and technical know-how in making
high quality wines.”
The selected wines include Grace Vineyard Tasya’s Reserve Cabernet Franc 2018, Silver Heights Jiayuan Marselan 2021, and Xige Estate Jade Dove Single Vineyard Cabernet Gernischt 2019 from Ningxia, and Domaine De Long Dai 2020 from Shandong, established by the DBR Lafite Group. The first three wines are offered in business class (on a rotational basis), while the last is available in first class.
These four wines were selected by a panel of experts including Debra Meiburg MW, Cathay Pacific wine consultant Roy Moorfield, and Ronald Khoo from a pool of 40 Chinese wines, with quality as the top priority.
Leung Chun-ying, the Vice Chairman of China’s political advisory body, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and former Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, shared his personal experiences and the impact of the initiative. Speaking to Vino Joy News, he explained “I am a very frequent flier on Cathay as I go to Beijing a few times a month and to some Belt and Road countries to offer humanitarian medical aid. Flying to me is quite relaxing. I enjoy the Cathay champagne before take off. My iPhone is then in Airplane meaning solitude Mode. Then I catch up on movies, books and articles that I missed when they came out. To cap it all, a glass of wine before a quick nap.”
“In-flight wines are all about surprises. It was indeed a very pleasant surprise when starting from 1 March I was offered and asked to choose between several Ningxia wines,” Leung added. He has been instrumental in connecting Hong Kong with the Ningxia Autonomous Region over the past six years, enhancing tourism and promoting trade for Ningxia’s local goji berry and wine industries, leveraging Hong Kong’s strengths as an international wine hub.
“I have of course been to Ningxia quite a few times. It has the status of a province and is situated west of Inner Mongolia. Last year I organised wine tours in Ningxia for dozens of friends, staying in good class hotels on vineyards. The best season is from June to August. Yinchuan which is the capital city of the Region is less than 3.5 hours away from Hong Kong. You may want to take a snapshot of the wine labels and one day look up the vineyards. Most of them offer good value wine tasting,” Leung concluded, highlighting the region’s appeal.
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