How would you do this?

[garardo]

The wife and I are on the Infinity 11-20. We both love wine. The wife will not be able to enjoy a glass with me because of a meds issue. I am bring a number of bottles and I can not nor do I want to drink an entire bottle at one sitting. I am on the look out for a fellow wine lover that can help me enjoy a glass or so with us and talk about the finer aspects of wine and its making. Where would you look to find such a person.

 

garardo

[flashdog_1]

If you are taking the wine to the dining room the sommelier will save what you don't drink and present it at your table the next night. It will have been kept at the proper temperature etc.

 

You could quiz your table mates to see if anyone is a wine lover, and share thru the week.

[garardo]

Flash dog,

 

Thanks for the reply. Because of the quality of the wines I am bring, they will not really hold over to the next day and have the same quality. My thought was to drink the wine on the veranda before dinner with a few bits of anti pasti. I do plan on chatting with our table mates but If non of them pan out I will need a plan "B"

 

garardo

[Cruise Arizona]

Garardo,

 

Well I'm kind of kidding here, but DH and I are big time wine lovers. We did not get a veranda because we'll have our kids with us and we did not want them to have access to a balcony. But if you need company to help you finish your bottle of fine wine, we're game.

 

We live in Arizona Wine Country, Sonoita/Elgin. Not exactly Bordeaux or Coonawara or Napa Valley, but we moved out here from Tucson because of our love of wine. I thought about bringing along some fine wine from Arizona for the novelty and sharing it with friends, but I haven't figured out how to do this since we don't have a cabin large enough for entertaining and we have a requested a table for 4 for the family.

 

DH and I have been hooked on wines since a friend of ours won a free wine tasting class 12 years ago. We befreinded a wine merchant in Dallas, and then a fine wine distributor in Tucson. I love both whites and reds, but DH prefers reds. DH has taken a lot of business trips to Italy and fell in love with some of thier Borolo's and Montopulcino's (excuse my spelling). I love some of the domestic dry Reislings, and Oregon's apple and butter Chardonay's. I have few Italian whites that I absolutely love.

 

Anyway, if you are looking for companions to share a great bottle of wine with, we'd be happy to oblige:D But seriously, we'd love to just meet you and share some good conversation.

 

We'll see you in 4 1/2 weeks.

[garardo]

Cruise Arizona:

This could be a good thing. I am bringing mainly sparkeling wine and Pinot Noir. What are the Italian whites that you love? I have a very hard time finding good current vintage Italian whites. I enjoy the crisp freshness of them. I do like the CA chards but find that with all of the barrel fermentation and malolactic they loose the flavor of the grape. Please understand I am not trying to be rude but can you tell me more about your wine knowledge. The reason is I want to learn from others and hear other prospectives and tastes on wine. I am currently becoming a certified Sommelier and will pass my next class in SF in late Oct. I would like to chat more with you on line via e-mail but the wife will see it and my name will be mud. I told her that I would not make contact with anyone on this trip. The last time we cruised I had made about 100 contacts on line. We could not enjoy time on deck without being invited to this or that. We are looking to have a relaxing vacation and have time to our selves and a few friends like you that meet.

 

garardo

[cruzluvers]

The wife and I are on the Infinity 11-20.

 

 

Garardo,

 

We agree that quality wines, even when properly recorked and stored, can often lose a great deal when left in a half-empty bottle overnight. At home we deal with that issue by transferring the left overs to smaller (375 ML) bottles, which we try to fill to the tippy-top, thus eliminating the air space which we have been led to believe is the primary factor in wine deterioration. It seems to work.

 

This solution, however, could not be practically implemented on a cruise ship. Have you considered half-bottles? You're not likely to find any at Costco but, in a city the size of Las Vegas, there are bound to be some quality wine merchants who carry wines in that format. Of course, the selection will be limited, but in our experience we have seen some outstanding selections in the half-bottle size. One that comes easily to mind is the 1999 Guigal Chateaunuef de Pape which was the Wine Spectator Wine of The Year for 2000, a half-bottle of which we ordered off the wine list of one of NYC's finest restaurants.

 

Your only other option is wine by the glass. On the list for C-Class ships there are only about 6 whites and 7 reds to choose from only one or two of which are noteworthy.

 

Bon voyage:) .

 

Rhona & John

[garardo]

rafww1

 

The problem is that the wines that I have are not available in 375mm. Very few producers bottle in the 375. If they do bottle the 375mm little of it comes to the states. In the US most restaurants offer a wine by the glass program. Not so in the Europen market. It is more expensive and they have to change over the bottle line. Also, the 375mm do not age as well. Another idea on keeping an open bottle of red fresh is to chill it down to say 45 degrees. Bring it back up to cellar temp and drink it. Regarding the pouring of the wine from the 1/2 full 750mm to a 375mm: Yes you do have less air gap but in the process pouring from one bottle to the other you have exposed nearly all of the wine to 0xygen. I think there is something called wine beads. They are glass like marbles that you add to a 1/2 full bottle to bring it up to full.

 

garardo

[Cruise Arizona]

Well you probably have a better nose for wine than I do, but I'll just share with you some of the wines we've enjoyed over the last year or two. We tend to buy moderately priced wines from small producers, and very little of the real expensive stuff, well simply because we like wine to much and buy it to drink not to display.

 

I've gone through my wine invoices, and actually I would say that, my favorite Itlalian white is the Gagliardo Favoria Fallegro, I've purchased a couple cases of that over the last year, but then we really mix it up in what we purchase. Here are some of the different wine's we've enjoyed over the last two years, (I didn't put the vintages in because we have purchased several different vintages of many of the same wines.) :

 

Furente Del Conde Roasado De Tempranillo (Spanish dry rose)

Gagliardo Favorita Fallegro (Dry fermented in a “Frizzante style” in the growing region of Roero. Half way between still and sparkling.)

Marchese Fioravanti-Mascato d' Asti (Italian Sparkling Wine)

Matthews Cellars Yakima Valley Semillon (Washington State)

Conn Valley Vineyards Chardonnay(Napa Valley)

Sigillo Primo Primitivo Salento, Antica Masseria del Sigillo (Italian)

Hungarian Oremu Late Harvest Tokaji Furmint (dessert wine)

Mountain Dom Washington State Sparking Wine

Biale Vinyards Zinfandel(Sonoma Valley CA)

Foris Gewurtaminer (Dry, Rogue Valley Oregon)

Garretson Wine Company Mourvodre (Spelling???) (California)

Heron Wines Like the Chardonnay, Syrah and Cabernet (California)

Mont Marcal-Cava Brut (Spain)

Dragani-Montepulciano d' Abrurzzo (Italy)

 

Thats just a few, We usually go to a big wine tasting once a year and get to try wines from the distributors portfolio, then order by the case or 1/2 case through one of thier retailers. I really like to try new wines and new grapes, and see what the lesser know regions like Washington and Oregon are doing with their wines. They tend to be more unique than the mass produced CA wines.

 

Also, I had a long discussion at the tasting with several of the vinters who are going to the screw cap on fine wines. I was a little sceptical at first, because my rule of thumb for trying a wine was "It has to have a cork", but we bought some of the Garretson wines. Matt Garretson has gone completely to screw cap, and says that it provides him with more consistant quality and he doesn't have the 10% loss of product due to cork failure. He said that he only made the decision after visiting Australia and studiing thier use of screw caps. Would love to hear you opinion on the screw cap trend.

 

 

 

 

 

[Cruise Arizona]

double post, sorry.

[garardo]

The jury is still out on the screw caps. For whites or for that matter reds that do not need or benefit from any ageing then the screw top is a good thing. It prevents TCA. That is the corked musty taste and smell you get from a tainted cork. As for wines that benefit from age there is a lot to be said for the flavors that the corks give the wine. The screw caps have not been around long enough to compare a nice bottle of Duckhorn cab with a cork to one with a screw cap that have been aged side by side for 10 -15 years. The jury is still out. Remember too that a bottle of Champagne spends the first 3-5 years of it's life with a coke bottle type crown cap.

A question I have for you: Where do you prefer you Sauvignon Blanc to come from and don't get cute on me and say the bottle. East Loire Valley, California, New Zealand or Austrailia and please tell me why.

 

I noticed that you drink the Moscat d'Asti. Another one you should try is a Brachetto d'Acqui. It is the same 5.5 Alch.and with the slight fizz. It is red and have a bouquet of strawberries, raspberries and whilted red roses. A very amazing little dessert wine. Have you every gotten to Barolo and Barbaresco? A little bit pricey but great for a special event.

 

garardo

[ingrid295]

Sorry I am not on your cruise!! My family have been wine distributors for 40 years, so we appreciate fine wines. What wines have you selected for your cruise? I recently had the privilege of trying a great red from the cellars at Cambridge... a friend visited & brought a very nice bottle with him... don't want to get my friend into trouble for raiding the college's supplies, (they may not even know it is gone... but they do have an impressive collection of wines)!

 

Ingrid

[Cruise Arizona]

Savignon Blanc, mmm,

 

French sauvignon blanc often strikes me as a bit too grassy, where as Oregon and California Savignon Blanc tends to be a bit more fruity. The one that comes to mind from the tasting we attended in August is the Fiddlehead, from Willamette Valley, Oregon., I think I remember hearing that the Aussies and Kiwi’s are using a lot of oak for their Savignon Blanc, but I can’t recall any specific ones that I have tried.

 

Usually, the French is a little too grassy for me, So I’d have to say that I probably prefer the California/ Oregon style of a lot of upfront fruit and acidity, an not the grassier French. I’d have to give the a fair side by side tasting with the Australian and New Zealand to see how I liked the oakier style.

[BrooklynGirl2]

Garardo...how interesting that you know Brachetto d'Acqui. Have you ever tried Freisa d'Asti? My brother in law owns a winery in the area outside of Asti in Piemonte and he would make a Freisa in the spumante style (sweet and sparkling). It was a wonderful dessert wine with raspberry strawberry notes. We would pour it over cut up fresh fruit in the summer (melon, berries, peaches etc) and it was quite refreshing. Unfortunately, it didn't sell well here in the States so he stopped making it.

 

He does make a wonderful white wine called Lacrima di Gioia which is a blend of Cortese and Arneis grapes. This wine is crisp and refreshing with notes of apple, melon and hints of almond. Wonderful with fish, appetizers and also alone. The winery is Vitivinicola Benotto and the importer is Opici Imports. We also make 3 cru Barberas and Dolcetto, Bonarda and Gamba di Pernice (which is a very rare grape indiginous only to the Asti area and makes a red wine similar to Cabernet Franc)

 

I have been fortunate to spend a lot of time in Italy working in the vineyards and wine cellar. I've done just about everything except the pruning (I've just never been there in late winter/early spring).

 

I have also been fortunate to meet many of the Barolo/Barbaresco producers (and enjoyed their wines) including the old school of Giacosa, Vietti and Conterno and the new boutique winemakers like Sandrone, Cigliutti, Scavino and Altare. Also met and chatted with Angelo Gaja both at his winery and at Vinitaly. He is a very charming and dynamic man and his cru Barbareso's are pretty amazing.

 

On our last cruise we took our wine for the first time and paid the corkage fees. It was well worth it since we had a 1990 La Fort La Tour and a 1995 Macarini Barolo La Serra along with some of our own barrique aged Barbera. We were lucky in that we were seated with a single gentleman traveling alone who also loved wines. So we shared with him and he purchased wine to share with us. On our last night he treated us to the wonderful Antinori Tingnanello.

 

We also had a wine steward on Zenith that was quite excited by the bottles we brought and of course we insisted he share some with us as well.

 

BTW, good luck on your tests. My husband was a wine steward for many years in a NYC restaurant although he never got certified.

[garardo]

Brooklyngirl

 

E vero che lei parla italiano?

 

garardo

[BrooklynGirl2]

Si, e vero. Perche?

[garardo]

Perche ho bisogno di pratica.

 

Garardo