Chang11

I was extremely disappointed to discover no Champagne on either segment of my recent Seattle to Bangkok flight. Only horrible Rose available. Also, no pre-take off drinks offered on both segments. I requested a drink when the flight Attendants were about. It took almost a half hour to receive the drink.

Additionally, the entertainment center sporadically functioned. Not impressed by JAL Biz class.

CPH-Flyer

Without going in to the finer details of the peculiarities of rosé champagne production vs rosé production in France in general, I'll just remark that JAL does indeed serve champagne on the mentioned routes. And upload the label below.

I have tried it, and it is in my opinion a rather nice champagne. But not everyone's tastes are the same. I have had champagne I don't particularly like on flights, but that does not mean that said airline did not offer champagne. Though once on UA I did ask to see the bottle as I did not believe it was champagne. I did word that in a more polite manner, and did not mention my misgivings.

tai4de2

I had champagne SEA-NRT on 9/2/2022, and was offered it on NRT-SEA on 9/11/2022.

YMMV, apparently.

JALPak

There's no YMMV. JAL served rosé champagne on OP's flight.

tai4de2

It apparently can vary by the day, or by the phase of the moon, or whatever else affects their catering?

Chang11

Were pretake-off drinks offered? I flew two weeks prior to your flight and no "normal" Champagne was listed on the beverage menu or onboard. I asked and politely expressed my disappointment. When you pay for business class one would expect consistency to set norms, especially if you're paying the bill. Then the additional insult not having a reliable functioning entertainment console.

Prior to leaving I watched a couple of JAL review videos, and all had preflight "normal" Champagne. I've flown EVA, Singapore, previous JAL flight, and Qatar all offered/promptly gave me pretake-off "normal" Champagne. Had I known this was not JAL's standard I would not have flown JAL (purchased ticket 5 months in advance).

On a positive note, the petite beef tenderloin was brilliant.

tai4de2

Yes, we were offered pre-takeoff drinks and that's where I experienced the (non-rosé) champagne.

I'm totally with you on a desire for consistency. These seats ain't cheap and when paying that kind of dough it's definitely reasonable to expect a certain level of service, and consistency!

Chang11

When someone mentions Champagne, the traditional white Champagne ("normal") comes to mind to most people (I believe). If one is talking/listing Rose Champagne, then Rose or Red is included with Champagne. Without researching white Champagne is widely more popular than Rose.

Thank you, CPH-Flyer, I never considered Rose a Champagne. But then on the surface beer brewed in the Champagne Region could be called Champagne! To me that's the difference between red and white Champagne. I know there's more to the classification standards, just an illustration point.

CPH-Flyer

White champagne is typically more common on airlines, probably because the rosé is more expensive than the equivalent white, but maybe also because the produced volume of rosé is a lot smaller than what is produced in white.

​​​​​​The image and taste of cheap mass-produced rosé wines, both sparkling and none sparkling, have kind of dragged down on the perception of the quality rosé wines that are made. Which is a bit sad, though admittedly I have myself needed to be schooled a bit in that aspect and learn to appreciate rosé wines again.

Chang11

I did try one glass of Rose Champagne and disliked it so much I could not finish it. When drinking wine, I prefer red wine over white.

CPH-Flyer

That is a fair point, taste is individual and we should not always like the same things. It would make the world so boring if we all liked exactly the same.

But it does not make it "no champagne offered". That was my objection; champagne was offered, but you did not like it.

Chang11

I do not consider "Rose Champagne", "Champagne". It always has to described as Rose and no "Champagne" was offered. Again, had I been told JAL only offered Rose, I would have taken my business elsewhere.

CPH-Flyer

Is a rosé from bourgogne not a bourgogne either?

I don't dispute your disappointment in the selection, nor your preference for only white wines, lots of people only drink white wine. But to make a headline that says "No champagne in business class" is simply not true.

The wine menus are published on JAL's website, so the details of the offering is available in advance. Though usually only 2-3 months in advance. The specific bottle is a relatively new addition to the JAL menus, first time I saw it was to HCMC in May. Back then it was the alternative selection, but it is the only selection for September to November on all routes. But for people who book for December and beyond these days, there is of course no knowing what will be on the menu. There will be champagne for sure, just a question of which specific one, and whether it will be white or rosé. If the flight has a PY cabin, J passengers could probably get them to bring the champagne from there, that is currently a white champagne.

Even if I don't consider today as Tuesday, it does not actually make it a Wednesday.

Kacee

Do you even understand what the word "Champagne" refers to?

Chang11