Anyone who’s ever ordered a glass of wine at 35,000 feet knows it just doesn’t taste the same as it does on the ground.
Between the dry cabin pressure, lower oxygen levels, and background engine hum, our taste buds and olfactory senses dull by as much as 30 percent. A bold red that tastes lush and velvety on the ground can suddenly come across as thin, overly acidic, or intensely tannic at cruising altitude.
Airlines usually try to solve this problem on the ground, hiring teams of sommeliers to blind-taste existing bottles and guess which profiles might hold up in flight.
Now, United Airlines and one of Sonoma County‘s most celebrated boutique wineries are flipping that entire concept on its head.
In an unprecedented collaboration, acclaimed winemaker Jesse Katz of Aperture Cellars brought the final blending process of a luxury Cabernet Sauvignon directly onboard a commercial flight from Newark to San Francisco, making winemaking history at 35,000 feet.
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Crafting a Wine for the Sky, in the Sky
United
Dubbed Air and Vine, the custom blend was conceived specifically to be poured in United Polaris business class on select long-haul international routes beginning in 2028.
Rather than treating the pressurized cabin as an environmental obstacle to overcome after bottling, Katz treated the aircraft as an active extension of his cellar. Armed with barrel samples from Aperture’s prized Farrow Ranch estate in Alexander Valley, Katz tasted each component at cruising altitude, adjusting ratios in real time based on how the aromas, fruit density, and tannins expressed themselves in the sky.
“Winemaking has always been about understanding place, but with Air and Vine we had an opportunity to expand what ‘place’ could mean,” explained Katz, who was named Wine Enthusiast’s 2025 Winemaker of the Year. “We know that wine presents differently in the air, so rather than treating altitude as something we needed to overcome, we made it part of the creative process. We brought the final blending decisions to 35,000 feet and built the wine around the exact environment in which it will one day be enjoyed.”
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Inside the 35,000-Foot Blend
The foundation of the 2024 vintage comes from hillside Cabernet blocks in Geyserville, which were hand-harvested and aged for 24 months in French oak barrels (40% new) before taking flight.
The final cuvée settled at altitude is a classic five-varietal Bordeaux blend:
76% Cabernet Sauvignon for structural backbone and rich, dark fruit 12% Malbec for vibrant color, plush mid-palate weight, and floral lift 6% Merlot to soften and round out the texture 4% Petit Verdot for depth and aromatic intensity 2% Cabernet Franc for savory complexityFor Katz, the project also carries deep personal resonance. As the son of celebrated photographer Andy Katz, he spent his childhood traveling to more than 90 countries, absorbing the nuances of global terroir while on the road with his father.
When Air and Vine officially rolls out to United Polaris passengers in 2028 as part of the airline’s ongoing three-year partnership with Aperture, it will offer travelers a rare pour crafted not just to survive the journey, but to celebrate it.
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