Self Pour champagne in GC South
Feb 4, 2022, 6:53 am
#5
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: London, ARN, HEL, ..... or MAN
Programs: BA GGL / GFL, Mucci Diamond!, HH Diamond, Radisson Premium, IHG Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 5,904
I accept that Prosecco could be seen as downgrade from most Champagnes - but I do question whether BA really needs to provide Champagne any more other than, let's say, in First Class.
The cost of Champagnes has accelerated well beyond the cost of other wines - and I'd far rather BA provided Prosecco and Cava and invested the savings in better service more generally. Next week I travel to Manchester in Economy. In the CCR I could easily drink half of the cost of my ticket in LPGS - or even more upsettingly, leave a half empty glass. I may then wonder why BA has stopped investing in the ground service at LHR or the overall service in Manchester. It would make no difference really to whether I fly BA if they replaced the LPGS with LP NV or Bolly NV, Clicquot or Taittinger etc.
We don't demand First Growth clarets as red wines in the lounges or top quality Meursault as white wines, or vintage ports as the digestif. Poor quality Champagnes can taste far worse than high quality sparkling wines from other parts of the world, but for some reason Champagne seems to be a "must have".
Before you ask, I can taste the difference - I have the WSET level 3 Wine Diploma - and I know they're different wines - but in many cases it's just a sparkling wine from a particular region, made in a certain way. It doesn't mean it's worth the money!
(I will now go and hide from the upcoming certain roasting - it's been nice knowing you all!)
The cost of Champagnes has accelerated well beyond the cost of other wines - and I'd far rather BA provided Prosecco and Cava and invested the savings in better service more generally. Next week I travel to Manchester in Economy. In the CCR I could easily drink half of the cost of my ticket in LPGS - or even more upsettingly, leave a half empty glass. I may then wonder why BA has stopped investing in the ground service at LHR or the overall service in Manchester. It would make no difference really to whether I fly BA if they replaced the LPGS with LP NV or Bolly NV, Clicquot or Taittinger etc.
We don't demand First Growth clarets as red wines in the lounges or top quality Meursault as white wines, or vintage ports as the digestif. Poor quality Champagnes can taste far worse than high quality sparkling wines from other parts of the world, but for some reason Champagne seems to be a "must have".
Before you ask, I can taste the difference - I have the WSET level 3 Wine Diploma - and I know they're different wines - but in many cases it's just a sparkling wine from a particular region, made in a certain way. It doesn't mean it's worth the money!
(I will now go and hide from the upcoming certain roasting - it's been nice knowing you all!)
Feb 4, 2022, 6:58 am
#6
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 816
I accept that Prosecco could be seen as downgrade from most Champagnes - but I do question whether BA really needs to provide Champagne any more other than, let's say, in First Class.
The cost of Champagnes has accelerated well beyond the cost of other wines - and I'd far rather BA provided Prosecco and Cava and invested the savings in better service more generally. Next week I travel to Manchester in Economy. In the CCR I could easily drink half of the cost of my ticket in LPGS - or even more upsettingly, leave a half empty glass. I may then wonder why BA has stopped investing in the ground service at LHR or the overall service in Manchester. It would make no difference really to whether I fly BA if they replaced the LPGS with LP NV or Bolly NV, Clicquot or Taittinger etc.
We don't demand First Growth clarets as red wines in the lounges or top quality Meursault as white wines, or vintage ports as the digestif. Poor quality Champagnes can taste far worse than high quality sparkling wines from other parts of the world, but for some reason Champagne seems to be a "must have".
Before you ask, I can taste the difference - I have the WSET level 3 Wine Diploma - and I know they're different wines - but in many cases it's just a sparkling wine from a particular region, made in a certain way. It doesn't mean it's worth the money!
(I will now go and hide from the upcoming certain roasting - it's been nice knowing you all!)
The cost of Champagnes has accelerated well beyond the cost of other wines - and I'd far rather BA provided Prosecco and Cava and invested the savings in better service more generally. Next week I travel to Manchester in Economy. In the CCR I could easily drink half of the cost of my ticket in LPGS - or even more upsettingly, leave a half empty glass. I may then wonder why BA has stopped investing in the ground service at LHR or the overall service in Manchester. It would make no difference really to whether I fly BA if they replaced the LPGS with LP NV or Bolly NV, Clicquot or Taittinger etc.
We don't demand First Growth clarets as red wines in the lounges or top quality Meursault as white wines, or vintage ports as the digestif. Poor quality Champagnes can taste far worse than high quality sparkling wines from other parts of the world, but for some reason Champagne seems to be a "must have".
Before you ask, I can taste the difference - I have the WSET level 3 Wine Diploma - and I know they're different wines - but in many cases it's just a sparkling wine from a particular region, made in a certain way. It doesn't mean it's worth the money!
(I will now go and hide from the upcoming certain roasting - it's been nice knowing you all!)
There's also the challenge of supply - probably aren't that many decent sparkling wine producers who could take on something like, say, the Nicolas Feuillatte contract in CE.
Feb 4, 2022, 7:10 am
#7
Join Date: Mar 2020
Programs: British Airways GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond & Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,612
I accept that Prosecco could be seen as downgrade from most Champagnes - but I do question whether BA really needs to provide Champagne any more other than, let's say, in First Class.
The cost of Champagnes has accelerated well beyond the cost of other wines - and I'd far rather BA provided Prosecco and Cava and invested the savings in better service more generally. Next week I travel to Manchester in Economy. In the CCR I could easily drink half of the cost of my ticket in LPGS - or even more upsettingly, leave a half empty glass. I may then wonder why BA has stopped investing in the ground service at LHR or the overall service in Manchester. It would make no difference really to whether I fly BA if they replaced the LPGS with LP NV or Bolly NV, Clicquot or Taittinger etc.
We don't demand First Growth clarets as red wines in the lounges or top quality Meursault as white wines, or vintage ports as the digestif. Poor quality Champagnes can taste far worse than high quality sparkling wines from other parts of the world, but for some reason Champagne seems to be a "must have".
Before you ask, I can taste the difference - I have the WSET level 3 Wine Diploma - and I know they're different wines - but in many cases it's just a sparkling wine from a particular region, made in a certain way. It doesn't mean it's worth the money!
(I will now go and hide from the upcoming certain roasting - it's been nice knowing you all!)
The cost of Champagnes has accelerated well beyond the cost of other wines - and I'd far rather BA provided Prosecco and Cava and invested the savings in better service more generally. Next week I travel to Manchester in Economy. In the CCR I could easily drink half of the cost of my ticket in LPGS - or even more upsettingly, leave a half empty glass. I may then wonder why BA has stopped investing in the ground service at LHR or the overall service in Manchester. It would make no difference really to whether I fly BA if they replaced the LPGS with LP NV or Bolly NV, Clicquot or Taittinger etc.
We don't demand First Growth clarets as red wines in the lounges or top quality Meursault as white wines, or vintage ports as the digestif. Poor quality Champagnes can taste far worse than high quality sparkling wines from other parts of the world, but for some reason Champagne seems to be a "must have".
Before you ask, I can taste the difference - I have the WSET level 3 Wine Diploma - and I know they're different wines - but in many cases it's just a sparkling wine from a particular region, made in a certain way. It doesn't mean it's worth the money!
(I will now go and hide from the upcoming certain roasting - it's been nice knowing you all!)
Feb 4, 2022, 7:19 am
#8
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: London, ARN, HEL, ..... or MAN
Programs: BA GGL / GFL, Mucci Diamond!, HH Diamond, Radisson Premium, IHG Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 5,904
Feb 4, 2022, 7:43 am
#9
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: UK/France
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold, EY Plat, etc
Posts: 351
Good post. I think that both BA and VS have given prominence to English Sparkling wines but then again some of these are now expensive as well.
Personally I think that it is a slippery slope but think that there needs to be some differentiation between CCR/GF/GC and the Wine selection is one way to do it. From what I have seen recently people are not hitting the booze as hard as 3-4 years ago so I am not sure how much it costs as an average per passenger per day but imagine less than £1 based on what I see in GF.
Personally I think that it is a slippery slope but think that there needs to be some differentiation between CCR/GF/GC and the Wine selection is one way to do it. From what I have seen recently people are not hitting the booze as hard as 3-4 years ago so I am not sure how much it costs as an average per passenger per day but imagine less than £1 based on what I see in GF.
Feb 4, 2022, 2:07 pm
#11
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,106
I accept that Prosecco could be seen as downgrade from most Champagnes - but I do question whether BA really needs to provide Champagne any more other than, let's say, in First Class.
The cost of Champagnes has accelerated well beyond the cost of other wines - and I'd far rather BA provided Prosecco and Cava and invested the savings in better service more generally. Next week I travel to Manchester in Economy. In the CCR I could easily drink half of the cost of my ticket in LPGS - or even more upsettingly, leave a half empty glass. I may then wonder why BA has stopped investing in the ground service at LHR or the overall service in Manchester. It would make no difference really to whether I fly BA if they replaced the LPGS with LP NV or Bolly NV, Clicquot or Taittinger etc.
We don't demand First Growth clarets as red wines in the lounges or top quality Meursault as white wines, or vintage ports as the digestif. Poor quality Champagnes can taste far worse than high quality sparkling wines from other parts of the world, but for some reason Champagne seems to be a "must have".
Before you ask, I can taste the difference - I have the WSET level 3 Wine Diploma - and I know they're different wines - but in many cases it's just a sparkling wine from a particular region, made in a certain way. It doesn't mean it's worth the money!
(I will now go and hide from the upcoming certain roasting - it's been nice knowing you all!)
The cost of Champagnes has accelerated well beyond the cost of other wines - and I'd far rather BA provided Prosecco and Cava and invested the savings in better service more generally. Next week I travel to Manchester in Economy. In the CCR I could easily drink half of the cost of my ticket in LPGS - or even more upsettingly, leave a half empty glass. I may then wonder why BA has stopped investing in the ground service at LHR or the overall service in Manchester. It would make no difference really to whether I fly BA if they replaced the LPGS with LP NV or Bolly NV, Clicquot or Taittinger etc.
We don't demand First Growth clarets as red wines in the lounges or top quality Meursault as white wines, or vintage ports as the digestif. Poor quality Champagnes can taste far worse than high quality sparkling wines from other parts of the world, but for some reason Champagne seems to be a "must have".
Before you ask, I can taste the difference - I have the WSET level 3 Wine Diploma - and I know they're different wines - but in many cases it's just a sparkling wine from a particular region, made in a certain way. It doesn't mean it's worth the money!
(I will now go and hide from the upcoming certain roasting - it's been nice knowing you all!)
I don't understand the obsession with LPGS (maybe it's a FT thing) or Champagne in general, but I have certainly had less pricey options that were just as good (to my palate anyway) and I could imagine the outrage if BA decided to stop serving that brand for a more budget friendly option.
I certainly concur that improvements need to be focused in other areas, however, I suspect many would accept a decent food offering and reasonable quality wines and spirits if improvements in other areas were to be achieved.
Feb 4, 2022, 3:00 pm
#14
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: UK - Hampshire & London
Programs: Mucci de Guardian des Celliers des Grands Crus 1e Classé, plus BAEC.
Posts: 2,736
It used to be far sweeter, the Russians were big consumers, that market tailed off post-1917 ……..
