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Debra Meiburg MW joins as a Cathay Pacific wine consultant

Cathay Pacific Airways announced today that Master of Wine Debra Meiburg, a highly regarded Hong Kong-based wine expert, has become the most recent addition to the airline’s wine panel. Debra will join existing Cathay Pacific wine consultants Lau Chi-sun and Roy Moorfield to pick out new wine selections for passengers in all classes of travel.

Debra Meiburg MW is an award-winning author, educator and international speaker who holds one of the top honours in the wine world, Master of Wine. This is the first time she has teamed up with an airline to select fine wines for the enjoyment of passengers on board.

Born in California and a resident of Hong Kong for more than 25 years, Debra has extensive writing, judging and educational experience in the wine world. She was ranked seventh in The Drinks Business magazine’s list of the “Most Powerful Women in Wine” and was named as one of the “7 People to Watch” by Decanter Magazine. She is also the producer and host of various television shows and has been a judge in multiple pan-Asian wine competitions.

Cathay Pacific Head of Catering Aaron Claxton said: “At Cathay Pacific, we are committed to offering passengers a high-quality food and beverage experience that helps to make their journeys more special. We serve around 1.8 million bottles of wine each year, which highlights the importance of wine in our inflight service. People are getting more food and wine-savvy, so, working with our wine consultants, we aim to explore the wine world to choose not only widely recognised wines, but also new wine options that our passenger might not have tried before.

“We are very pleased to welcome Debra on board as one of our consultants. She is known for her global approach and great insights into Asia’s wine markets, and, working in tandem with our existing wine consultants, will help in our quest to bring more unique wine experiences to our passengers.”

Commenting on her appointment to the Cathay Pacific wine panel, Debra Meiburg MW said: “I am thrilled to join Cathay Pacific’s wine panel, and excited to review the airline’s current wine portfolio and offer guidance on the evolution of this selection. With so many interesting wines in the market today, and passengers as engaged as ever in the food and beverage experience, I’m excited at the vast potential to offer an enriched wine experience to enhance passengers’ inflight experience which aligns with Cathay Pacific’s Life Well Travelled philosophy.

“Firmly established as Asia’s wine hub, Hong Kong continues to draw the attention of the global wine industry. As Hong Kong’s home carrier, Cathay Pacific is ideally positioned to showcase this to the world. I look forward to working with Cathay Pacific’s world-class team to elevate the wine programme and exceed passenger expectations even further.”

Cathay Pacific serves around 80 different wines from countries including France, Italy, Austria, South Africa, Australia, the United States and New Zealand. The airline’s wine panel has to sample thousands bottle of wine every year to ensure that the selected wines fly well. The usual criteria for selecting high-quality wines apply during the sampling process, while additional factors such as the impact of high altitudes on people’s palettes and cabin humidity are also taken into consideration.