Korean Air has been recognised for its in-flight wine programme after winning six awards at the 2026 Cellars in the Sky Awards, organised by Business Traveller. The annual awards celebrate excellence in airline wine and beverage offerings, with entries judged by a panel of wine experts, including critics, winemakers, wine lecturers and wine traders.
The wine and the awards
The airline scored one gold medal, four bronze medals and one highly commended recognition across a range of first and business class categories. The strongest result came in the First Class Dessert Wine category, where its Chateau Guiraud 2002 received the gold medal, with judges describing the wine as having a “deep colour, lemon, saffron, ginger, waxy – excellent”.
The bronze medals were awarded for the Shafer One Point Five 2023 in the First Class Red Wine category and the Champagne Palmer & Co Grands Terroirs 2015 in the Business Class Sparkling Wine category.
The total points for the airline ranked third in both the first and business class wines, earning the bronze medal in the First Class and Business Class Wine Cellar in the Sky categories.
Annual competition celebrates in-flight hospitality
Now in its 40th year, the Cellars in the Sky Awards are regarded as one of the aviation industry’s leading competitions for inflight wine and beverages. Airlines from around the world submit products for blind tasting by a panel of wine specialists who assess how well the wine performs in an onboard environment.
According to the airline, the awards highlight the efforts of its catering and inflight service teams to curate wine selections that perform well at cruising altitude, where changes in cabin pressure and humidity can affect taste perception. Korean Air also won big at the 2024 awards and continues to develop its wines.
Have you tried any of Korean Air’s prestigious wines? Let us know in the comments below.
