Wine Anyone? What would you order if you could?

[nini]

My original thought was to ask if anyone had a current Vines Wine Menu,

however, that point is moot since the most recent would have been last March.

 

Soooooooo, if you could have a few of your favorite wines available by the glass or bottle,

what would those be? I would love to see a few favorites of fellow Princess cruisers.

 

I'll begin:

1. Macchia Zinfandel Mischievous Lodi

2. Butterknife Chardonnay

3. Appassimento Salento Bonari

4. Ancient Roots Red Blend

 

 

[voljeep]

$ 12 or less wine by the glass that Princess might actually have on their ships ?

 

there was a Silverado Cab in vines that was pretty decent 

[Ombud]

I'm ordering::

 

Chablis with Brie / water crackers 

 

Chocolate Wine with Fruit

 

Sandman 20 yr Tawny Port with full cheese platter (Parmigiano Reggiano, cheddar, Comté, Pecorino) and you can just leave the bottle (I'm solo so 375ml will do)

 

I'll be in Vines May 8, 2021🍷

[nini]

Love these wines with the food!

[XBGuy]

We, typically, bring some of our own wines.  That. to me, is just too much fun.  That being said, we also order a lot of Princess wines--both in the restaurants and in Vines.  I am, primarily, a red wine drinker, and Mrs. XBGuy is, primarily, a white wine drinker.  

 

We never, ever, order wine by the glass.  Last January on the Star Princess, I took a very nice Barolo to Sabatini's on sailaway evening.  Mrs. XBGuy ordered the Donnafugata white wine off the restaurant's list,  A few days later I brought an Apsara Cabernet Sauvignon to enjoy at Crown Grill, and Mrs. XBGuy ordered a white Burgundy for herself.  There is no downside to ordering by the bottle.  There are nice options for what to do with any unfinished wine in the bottle: 

 

• Leave it for staff (and not as a substitute for a cash tip).
• Recork it and take it to our cabin.
• Have the restaurant staff store it for us for a subsequent dinner at any of the ship's dining venues.

Ordering by the bottle pencils our to be less expensive than by the glass,  A bottle will be poured out as five glass servings.  So, if you multiply the by-the-glass price by five and compare that to the by-the-bottle price you will see how much more profit Princess realizes on by-the-glass sales.

 

On that same Star Princess cruise, last January, I learned something interesting about ordering wines at Vines.  In the first couple visits, I had been enjoying a nice, reasonably priced Spanish wine.  Surrounding the Vines seating area are shelves with bottles of wine.  This is attractive interior design, and I noticed that, quite often, the Vines servers would pull wines off these shelves to fill orders.  One day I took a closer look at these wines on the shelves.  As you can imagine I was finding wines that were on the Vines list.  Then I found an outlier:  Chappellet 2013 Napa Valley Merlot.  That wine was definitely not on their list.  2013 was an amazing vintage year for Napa Valley.  While I do not drink a lot of Merlot, I have a lot of confidence in Chappellet and was sure that it was an excellent wine.  So, when it came time to order another bottle, I asked the server if that wine was available for sale even though it was not on the price list.  It turns out that it was, and it was outstanding,  There were two more bottles on the shelf and I can assure you that by the end of that cruise, there were no bottles left.  There were also a few bottles of 2014 Seghesio Old Vines Zinfandel on those shelves.  I drank one at Vines and took another one home with me.

 

Wine lists are subject to change.  Inventory is always finite, and when a wine is gone, it is gone,  So, if a wine that you have enjoyed in the past (e.g., Silverado CS) disappears from a list, take a look around the room and see of a bottle or two is being used as a decoration.

[cr8tiv1]

First time user of beverage package and NOT a drinker.  Will I be able to order wine by the glass from Vines?

[voljeep]

4 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

First time user of beverage package and NOT a drinker.  Will I be able to order wine by the glass from Vines?

yes, up to and including $ 12 per glass ... as it currently stands

 

some have posted that they were only charged the difference if they ordered a wine over the $ 12 , but that is not what it states in the T & C on Princess ... unless it has changed

 

not a drinker ? - maybe try a wine flight - 3 different wines - sample size

[Ombud]

Yes!! Plus they have flights (3 wines progressively deeper in flavor) served with tapas. I love the Chocolate one. Although you may have a limited price range (I have never had a drink pkg)

 

@voljeep beat me to it

Edited October 14, 2020 by Ombud

[triple7tahoe]

1 hour ago, XBGuy said:

We, typically, bring some of our own wines.  That. to me, is just too much fun.  That being said, we also order a lot of Princess wines--both in the restaurants and in Vines.  I am, primarily, a red wine drinker, and Mrs. XBGuy is, primarily, a white wine drinker.  

 

We never, ever, order wine by the glass.  Last January on the Star Princess, I took a very nice Barolo to Sabatini's on sailaway evening.  Mrs. XBGuy ordered the Donnafugata white wine off the restaurant's list,  A few days later I brought an Apsara Cabernet Sauvignon to enjoy at Crown Grill, and Mrs. XBGuy ordered a white Burgundy for herself.  There is no downside to ordering by the bottle.  There are nice options for what to do with any unfinished wine in the bottle: 

 

• Leave it for staff (and not as a substitute for a cash tip).
• Recork it and take it to our cabin.
• Have the restaurant staff store it for us for a subsequent dinner at any of the ship's dining venues.

Ordering by the bottle pencils our to be less expensive than by the glass,  A bottle will be poured out as five glass servings.  So, if you multiply the by-the-glass price by five and compare that to the by-the-bottle price you will see how much more profit Princess realizes on by-the-glass sales.

 

On that same Star Princess cruise, last January, I learned something interesting about ordering wines at Vines.  In the first couple visits, I had been enjoying a nice, reasonably priced Spanish wine.  Surrounding the Vines seating area are shelves with bottles of wine.  This is attractive interior design, and I noticed that, quite often, the Vines servers would pull wines off these shelves to fill orders.  One day I took a closer look at these wines on the shelves.  As you can imagine I was finding wines that were on the Vines list.  Then I found an outlier:  Chappellet 2013 Napa Valley Merlot.  That wine was definitely not on their list.  2013 was an amazing vintage year for Napa Valley.  While I do not drink a lot of Merlot, I have a lot of confidence in Chappellet and was sure that it was an excellent wine.  So, when it came time to order another bottle, I asked the server if that wine was available for sale even though it was not on the price list.  It turns out that it was, and it was outstanding,  There were two more bottles on the shelf and I can assure you that by the end of that cruise, there were no bottles left.  There were also a few bottles of 2014 Seghesio Old Vines Zinfandel on those shelves.  I drank one at Vines and took another one home with me.

 

Wine lists are subject to change.  Inventory is always finite, and when a wine is gone, it is gone,  So, if a wine that you have enjoyed in the past (e.g., Silverado CS) disappears from a list, take a look around the room and see of a bottle or two is being used as a decoration.

Have to mention--Last year on one of our cruises, I think Australia; we were among the first to Vines. Bartender was one we knew from previous trips and as soon as he saw my wife,  he said " Do you still drink the Seghesio Old Vine Zin"?  With a look of astonishment my wife answered :Yes". He then tells us that they were in the midst of trading out American wines for Aussie wines. He comes back to say that he has stopped the off loading on the Seghesio so they ended up with a case. We managed to finish it before our first 14 days was up 🙂

[c-boy]

I gave everyone a plus vote because I love wine. Currently wines of the world are on my palate. Penfolds bin 707  cab is currently in my formerly nicotine stained fingers.  

[nini]

Yes, you can order by the glass and was mentioned, a flight is a great idea

to become more acquainted with your palate.

 

XBGuy- Thank you for your comments! DH does not drink so it is just me.

However, I am on board with you about the bottle.

 

So, two of you have mentioned the Seghesio Old Vines Zinfandel. I have read

much about it and love a good OVZ. I have been trying different ones and am on the

search for a great OVZ that does not break the bank. I know the Seghesio is not cheap

and not real expensive. My question is, how would you describe it? A recent purchase of mine

led to a VERY tart and sharp finish. I felt really burned as it was $20.00 per bottle plus shipping.

 

[Cruise Raider]

I would love if Princess sold their wine bottle packages on every sailing instead of just sailings of 10 days and longer.  I have had some luck on some ships purchasing these packages on 7 night cruises but, it sure would be nice to know ahead of time.  It would be best if they sold them on their website before the sailing.  

 

Now ... to the OP ... I would like the Mer Soliel, Acacia or Wente Riva Ranch for their chardonnay but, I do also like Butterknife.  

There are way too many wines to choose a favorite but, I can say, we tend to gravitate towards California wines.  I like to support our local economy.  

[susancruzs]

Wow!  I'm learning something knew here.  I did not realize about the wine flights, good to know, as I'll have the drink package on my Fall 2021 cruises.  I've gotten to like Malbec.  A friend knows I drink Merlot or other red wines so he told me to try Malbec when I was going on my So. America cruise.

[XBGuy]

18 minutes ago, nini said:

So, two of you have mentioned the Seghesio Old Vines Zinfandel. I have read

much about it and love a good OVZ. I have been trying different ones and am on the

search for a great OVZ that does not break the bank. I know the Seghesio is not cheap

and not real expensive. My question is, how would you describe it? A recent purchase of mine

led to a VERY tart and sharp finish. I felt really burned as it was $20.00 per bottle plus shipping.

 

 

Unfortunately, nini, there are no legal requirements for putting the words "Old Vine" on a wine label.  Specifically, there is no legal definition of how old an "old vine" is, although, the convention among most reputable California makers is that it must be, at least, 40 years old.  Some wineries will print the age of the vineyard on the back label.  There are quite a few California vines that are over 100 years old.  Even more disturbing is that there is no legal guarantee of quality.  So, as the buyer you have to have some knowledge of the winery and the winemaker.

 

It might be difficult for you to find what I believe to be the least expensive Old Vine Zin from a reputable maker--Bedrock Wine Co. California Old Vine Zinfandel.  The owner/winemaker of Bedrock is Morgan Twain-Peterson.  Morgan is, very much, dedicated to the preservarion of old vineyards, and is very active in the Historic Vineyard Society.  Morgan gets his Zinfandel talent from his father, Joel Peterson, who was the founder and winemaker of Ravenswood Winery an iconic California Zinfandel producer.  Morgan also owns Bedrock Vineyard, which was originally planted in 1854 and also supplies grapes to other wineries--Biale, Carlisle, Limerick Lane, Once & Future (Joel Peterson's current winery).  The Bedrock Old Vine Zin that referenced is made from grapes sourced from multiple vineyards that are on the Historic Vineyard Society's registry in various winegrowing regions in California. 

 

Most of Bedrock's wines are sold direct to the consumer via a mailing list.  List members are allocated so many bottles of each wine and they opt to request what they would like.  The last release of the California Old Vine Zin was in July for the 2019 vintage and the winery price was $19/bottle.  Yes, shipping is extra.  In July I placed my latest order at $19/bottle for the 2019 vintage,

 

However, wine that is not sold via the mailing list solicitations does find it's way onto the secondary market,  I have occasionally seen Bedrock wines in some fine wine stores.  (People living in Sonoma County can often find in in their local grocery store.)  Also, I have seen it available from on-line sellers--K&L Wine Merchants immediately comes to mind, but somplace like Wine Exchange might occasionally have some.

 

Wait a second.  (I spent quite a while composing the above, and I'm not going to delete it.)  Here is an inexpensive wine you might consider--Oak Ridge Ancient Vines Zinfandel.  You might give this one a try.  If there are Total Wine stores near you, they carry it for about $14.

 

I just thought of another one--Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel also about $14.  Solid maker.  

 

Sorry, nini, as you can see, I can get carried away pontificating on wine.  😜

 

 

[getting older slowly]

Since we mainly sail from Australia... mainly either Australia or New Zealand wines...

 

Only buy by the bottle, adn ever had beverage package.... alway take prtly finished bottle back to cabin adn use a wine saver of them... or for night cap....

 

Something buy a bottle on shore.... which use for lunch on the balcony on port days...

 

Also regarding Port...... we found only one available and greatly over priced... adn ended up bring our own on board at one of the ports......

 

Cheers Don

[nini]

Cruise Raider- thank you for the Chardonnay ideas! About ten years ago

I swore that I would NEVER drink a Chardonnay... guess what? I love them

buttery, oaky and smooth.

 

XBGuy- I, for one, enjoyed your thoughts and education regarding OVZ. IMHO, it was not pontificating at all.

I belong to a FB page that is all about wine and the Zinfandel wine I spoke about purchasing

through them was really touted as so wonderful and the description was lovely.

I just purchased the Oak Ridge Ancient Vines Zinfandel at Total Wine. We will see.

I did drink the Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel and it was SO much better than my crummy online

purchase. I can get the Seghesio at Costco and give it a try.

 

triple7tahoe- I love that the bartender remembered you!

[mk-ultra]

5 hours ago, Ombud said:

I'm ordering::

 

Chablis with Brie / water crackers 

 

Chocolate Wine with Fruit

 

Sandman 20 yr Tawny Port with full cheese platter (Parmigiano Reggiano, cheddar, Comté, Pecorino) and you can just leave the bottle (I'm solo so 375ml will do)

 

I'll be in Vines May 8, 2021🍷

 

Oooh... nicely aged tawny ports.  I'm a Madeira nerd, but old tawny port?  Close enough 🙂

[Mike45LC]

Coke please.

[Thrak]

With the beverage package we liked to order the Spellbound Petite Sirah but they no longer have it by the glass. We did order a bottle in the dining room. This isn't an expensive wine but was chosen by the vast majority of folks at the freebie Elite wine tasting as the favorite. I asked and was told it's pretty consistently the top choice for that tasting. I asked why, if it's popular, it was no longer offered by the glass in Vines and I got the, "They don't ask me, they just do what they want to do" sort of answer. We normally stick to red wines but they did have a nice Gewurztraminer that I sometimes ordered. It's light and ever so slightly sweet. Sometimes I feel like the only Gewurztraminer drinker out there.

[hobbyfarmer2]

2 hours ago, nini said:

Cruise Raider- thank you for the Chardonnay ideas! About ten years ago

I swore that I would NEVER drink a Chardonnay... guess what? I love them

buttery, oaky and smooth.

 

XBGuy- I, for one, enjoyed your thoughts and education regarding OVZ. IMHO, it was not pontificating at all.

I belong to a FB page that is all about wine and the Zinfandel wine I spoke about purchasing

through them was really touted as so wonderful and the description was lovely.

I just purchased the Oak Ridge Ancient Vines Zinfandel at Total Wine. We will see.

I did drink the Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel and it was SO much better than my crummy online

purchase. I can get the Seghesio at Costco and give it a try.

 

triple7tahoe- I love that the bartender remembered you!

What does the Seghesio go for at Costco in the USA?  It is a rare treat for us here in Ontario, CA at $57.95 CAD a bottle.  I love a good Zin or a Chateauneuf Dr Pape.

[Lucky TGO]

Well call it what you want? I love the Champagne that you receive when you win any of the games on the ship. It’s sooooo good because the boys make it fresh every Tuesday in the boiler room on all the Princess Cruise ships 🥂 😁

The Captain of The Rowboat,

Tony

 

[cr8tiv1]

So many wine experts on this thread.  I have a lot of catching up to do.  I'm a lightweight (white wines).  Those that sit with me at the wine tasting are lucky.  I hand over ALL of my reds.

[nini]

4 hours ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

What does the Seghesio go for at Costco in the USA?  It is a rare treat for us here in Ontario, CA at $57.95 CAD a bottle.  I love a good Zin or a Chateauneuf Dr Pape.

I think the Seghesio is $20.00

Thrak - I love Gewurztraminer. I think the Fetzer label is the one I enjoy.

[Tak8]

By the bottle, I love the Maximiano Cabernet.  By the glass, I'll take a Syrah or Malbec. 

[hobbyfarmer2]

7 hours ago, nini said:

I think the Seghesio is $20.00

Thrak - I love Gewurztraminer. I think the Fetzer label is the one I enjoy.

Just checked out the Seghesio Old Vines zin at Total Wine.  It goes for $34.99 USD which is around $48 CAD.  My wife and I also enjoy the floral flavors of a fine Gewurtztraminer as well......