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Vital HfP reader news – new champagne coming to Club World next week (and new cutlery)

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Here at Head for Points we understand what really matters to our readers.  That is why this story had to be the lead one today.

From 27th March, British Airways will be serving a new champagne in its Club World cabins – Henriot Brut Souverain NV.

This did apparently win a blind taste test.  You may be cynically thinking that it is also cheap, but Jancis Robinson recommended it at Christmas so I am quietly confident.  I will see if the crew will bring me a glass into First Class in early April ….

Virgin Atlantic 747 champagne

de Castelnau Rose and de Castelnau Brut Reserve NV will also continue to be available.

And new champagne in Club Europe too ….

If you’ve not flown Club Europe so far this year, you won’t know that de Castlenau Brut Reserve NV has replaced the Heidsieck Monopole.  Monopole has been the CE champgne since, well, the dawn of time, or at least as far back as I can remember.  Reports on Flyertalk are mixed so far.

And new cutlery ….

There will be even more excitement on board from Tuesday (long-haul) and a week on Tuesday (short-haul) as new cutlery is introduced in all cabins except First.

Coming rather late to the party, given the current oil price, this new cutlery will be noticeably lighter than the current version which apparently leads to fuel savings.

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Comments (41)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • David says:
    20 Mar20 March 05:57

    Had the Castlenau yesterday and I prefer it on the Monopole.

  • Janice Edgar says:
    20 Mar20 March 06:13

    Worse still, they’ve replaced Coke with Pepsi. #nastybrownmuck

    • Roger says:
      20 Mar20 March 06:24

      Not quite.

      In LHR lounges, yes. I had Diet Coke onboard LHR-CPT last week (having declined P*psi in T3 F lounge.

    • Fenny says:
      20 Mar20 March 08:07

      It’s all nasty brown muck. I wouldn’t drink either of them!

      • Worzel says:
        20 Mar20 March 08:45

        No doubt a disappointing response(so far) for Rob-the brown stuff more important than Champers!
        However, we’ve used a Nigella Lawson recipe a few times(boiling a Ham in Coke-or was it Pepsi?!) and the results have been very good 🙂 .

        • Alan says:
          20 Mar20 March 11:26

          Although if it’s ham on the bone Coke/Pepsi will probably eat through all the meat 😛 They’re also very handy for cleaning coins… 😀

    • Brian says:
      20 Mar20 March 08:58

      Is your nastybrownmuck hashtag referring to Coke or Pepsi or both? Presumably the latter… :))

    • James67 says:
      20 Mar20 March 17:28

      Worse to come…knowing BA, the sugar tax will likely appear as a surcharge on our fare breakdowns from 2018.

  • Deb says:
    20 Mar20 March 08:00

    I much prefer pepsi on the rare occasion I have it, Coke gives me indigestion.
    OT do all flights to San Francisco from LHR have the new First cabin, I am very close to being able to have 2 return tickets in First to North America?

    Deb

  • Daniel says:
    20 Mar20 March 08:12

    Monopole has not been in CE since the dawn of time. It was only a few years ago that BA served that awful Pommery filth.

  • James67 says:
    20 Mar20 March 08:19

    I hoped you were going to say something meaningful like they had abolished seat selection fees or they were going to give the cabins a much needed spring clean.

  • Cheshire Pete says:
    20 Mar20 March 08:47

    Not sure the Coke thing is permanent! Was in T5 1st lounge the other week chatting to a manager. They’ve been having supply chain problems with their mixers. Also the Draught Heineken which appeared in the 1st lounge a few months ago then has now vanished is because they ran out of the tubes they have to replace weekly! It will be returning when new stocks arrive! Although I prefer the champagne bar to Draught beer anyhow!

    • Jonathan says:
      21 Mar21 March 03:44

      Ran out of the tubes? The beer lines!?

      From my uni pub work days, draft beer doesn’t have anything replaced apart from the barrel. Everything else just need cleaning weekly.

  • AliC says:
    20 Mar20 March 08:53

    Oh no.
    That’s the nasty fizz they serve in the Joburg lounge.

  • Will says:
    20 Mar20 March 09:06

    Pepsi is a temporary measure due to a supply issue with Coke. The Coke branded products will return.

    The Monopole champagne was served for not long at all in CE. It was Pommery for many years. mOnopole was probably around for a year or so.

    • James says:
      20 Mar20 March 09:40

      Definitely been around longer than that, since 2013 although I can’t comment about any further back. We had it on the way to NAP en route to Positano for honeymoon, and it was also around when I came back from IST – the women across the aisle had 5 bottles…!

      Looking forward to trying the new stuff in June.

      • Will says:
        20 Mar20 March 16:47

        it was introduced Jan 2014. I just found the FT thread. Maybe your 2013 flights were supplied with Monopole due to a supply issue with the Pommery (we had Lanson in July when there was Monopole supply issues).

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