United overhauls economy-class wine menu with 4 new options

United Airlines is expanding its economy-class wine options with the introduction of new variatels.

The Chicago-based carrier announced on Monday that, beginning on Tuesday, Oct. 1, it will offer an all-new wine menu in the economy cabin on domestic flights. The airline will introduce rose and brut bubbles wines from popular brands Just Enough Wines and Maker Wine.

Just Enough Wines will also introduce new red and white choices onboard United flights.

Wines will be served in 250-milliliter cans — equivalent to about a glass and a half of wine — and be distributed with a plastic cup for sipping. Wines will be available for purchase for $12 on every mainline flight that offers a drink service.

United’s top-tier Premier 1K and invite-only Global Services members will still enjoy one free drink whenever they’re seated in economy.

The four new wine choices in United’s domestic economy cabins are:

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• Just Enough Wines Rosé
• Maker Brut Bubbles
• Just Enough Wines Cabernet Sauvignon
• Just Enough Wines Chardonnay

In addition to the new wines, United is also switching from mini plastic bottles to canned wines. This transition is estimated to reduce the number of single-use plastic bottles by about 4.7 million bottles annually, United claims.

United says that this is a “more conscious wine list,” and both of the new providers are women-owned independent brands.

“Our new economy wine list is giving travelers more variety and better quality. After the overwhelmingly positive response to the addition of rosé in United Polaris business class, and ongoing fanfare for sparkling options, we’re thrilled to now offer rosé and a higher quality brut bubbles option for our economy passengers, delivering a more premium experience onboard,” said Aaron McMillan, United’s managing director of hospitality programs, in a statement.

So far this year, United has served more than 20 million glasses of wine system-wide, which is 1.5 times the number of servings for beer or spirits, it said. This number includes the Polaris and Premium Plus cabins, where unlimited spirits are available free of charge.

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