SIA To Serve Rare Champagne In Raffles Class

11 October 2002

Singapore Airlines To Serve Rare Champagne In Raffles Class

All business class passengers on Singapore Airlines will get a taste of the rare ‘multi-vintage’ Piper Heidsieck Special Rare Cuvee from October 2002.

“We only serve the best to our customers. To find this prized champagne at a quantity that is readily available to us was a rare discovery,” said Mr Eddie Ong, Vice-President Inflight Services.

Piper Heidsieck Special Rare Cuvee will be served in Raffles Class on all flights. The champagne is served only in first class on most other airlines and will replace Duval Leroy, the champagne served on Raffles Class since 2000.

“The precise blend that makes this ‘multi-vintage’ cuvee is the closely guarded secret of the Chef de Cave of Piper-Heidsieck,” said Steven Spurrier, Singapore Airlines’ wine advisor and leading wine expert and author.

“It is made from only the finest quality grapes sourced from Champagne, with Chardonnay slightly dominating Pinot Noir, to which a judicious amount of four to five year-old reserve wine is added. The champagne then spends several years in deep chalk cellars in Reims, before being released at its complex perfection. It is a wine of uncommon personality and finesse that fully lives up to its name,” added Mr Spurrier.

London-based Spurrier is part of Singapore Airlines’ panel of world-renowned wine experts that selected this champagne. The panel also includes Anthony Dias Blue, one of the most influential specialists in American wines, and Michael Hill-Smith in Australia, who holds one of the world’s highest wine qualifications, Master of Wine.

Singapore Airlines spends more than $30 million annually in total on wine and champagne purchases, and is committed to serving the best on board.

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