Air New Zealand Launches Wine Label, Thirteen Forty Five

Several months ago, Air New Zealand announced that it would undertake a cute initiative, whereby it would launch its own wine label. There’s now an update, as this is now available.

Air New Zealand’s Thirteen Forty Five wine label

Air New Zealand is getting into the world of winemaking. The Star Alliance airline has launched a wine label named Thirteen Forty Five, with the name paying tribute to the airline’s inaugural flight from Auckland to Sydney, which covered a distance of 1,345 miles. This happened back in 1940, and was operated by predecessor TEAL (Tasman Empire Airways Limited), and kicked off a new era of connectivity in the region.

The wine is available exclusively to Air New Zealand customers, to be enjoyed in the air or on the ground. As of this month (March 2025), it’s available in business class and premium economy, in Air New Zealand lounges, in the Airpoints Store, and for a limited time, during Koru Hour on select domestic flights.

The wine is created in partnership with New Zealand wine producer Villa Maria, part of Indevin Group. The airline claims that the wine has been crafted with special attention to how flavors are experienced at altitude. The airline is initially offering a signature sauvignon blanc and pinot noir, and as they’re described:

• The sauvignon blanc blends grapes from select vineyards in Marlborough’s Wairau and Awatere valleys, offering aromas of passionfruit, lemongrass, and subtle herbal notes
• The pinot noir, sourced from vineyards on the eastern side of the Wairau valley, showcases flavors of cherry and plum with hints of dried herbs and violets

Here’s how Air New Zealand’s General Manager of Customer Experience, Kylie McGillivray-Brown, describes this development:

“Making a great wine takes time, and Thirteen Forty Five has been a passion project that honours our legacy while creating something special for our customers. We’re thrilled to finally share it – particularly in the year in which we’re celebrating our 85th birthday.”

“With every sip, travellers can toast to a legacy that spans miles and decades. It celebrates the connection between our love for travel and our passion for New Zealand’s incredible wines. We hope our customers will enjoy drinking it just as much as we enjoyed creating it.”

Meanwhile here’s how Villa Maria’s Winemaker, Tom Dixon, describes this:

“We couldn’t have asked for better vintages to produce the debut release of these wines. The conditions during the growing seasons were very favourable for producing high quality wines that reflect their respective varieties and showcase the essence of sauvignon blanc and pinot noir from Marlborough.”

This is a fun initiative on Air New Zealand’s part

Air New Zealand is hardly the first airline to create its own alcoholic beverage, so there’s a precedent for this. For example, Alaska serves a custom, co-branded craft beer that’s brewed by Seattle-based Fremont Brewing, named “Cloud Cruiser.”

I don’t think it’s still the case, but back in the day, British Airways had its own custom gin, created in partnership with Cambridge Distillery, which was exclusively available in first class and the Concorde Room.

Most of the wines that Air New Zealand served prior to this also came from Indevin Group, so this hardly represents a major change in terms of the winemakers that the company is working with.

While I think this is cute marketing, I can’t help but wonder if this somehow takes away the spotlight a bit from New Zealand’s wine producers. Air New Zealand does a great job serving wines from its home country, and showcasing brands that foreign visitors might not otherwise be that familiar with.

By creating a wine label that the public generally can’t even buy, it seems like that would harm awareness of other brands in New Zealand (unless the branding and partnership with Villa Maria is very obvious).

Regardless, I find it cute that an airline from a country known for its great wines now has its own wine label, as we haven’t seen that before from other airlines, as far as I know.

Bottom line

Air New Zealand has launched its own wine label, named Thirteen Forty Five, created in partnership with Villa Maria. With this, a sauvignon blanc and pinot noir are now available to customers onboard flights and in lounges. It’s rare to see an airline create its own wine label, so I hope to be able to give this a try, at some point.

What do you make of Air New Zealand creating its own wine label? If you have the chance to try it, please report back with your thoughts!