Sycamore Partners invests in wine

[oddjob16]

This is probably totally at the side of things, but shows that the new owners of Azamara sure has financial muscles to run a successful cruiseline tru the pandemic.

https://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataId=248813

 

Maybe we will see an improvement in the wine selections on board as well.😂😂😁😁

[Dr H]

Hey, if they put the Horsehead Cabernet on board, I will be very, very happy. I happen to like most of the daily wines Azamara has been serving. There have been a few duds, but by and large, they are very good, and there is plenty to choose from if you want to splurge at a reasonable price. 

[DenGNNJ]

35 minutes ago, Dr H said:

Hey, if they put the Horsehead Cabernet on board, I will be very, very happy. I happen to like most of the daily wines Azamara has been serving. There have been a few duds, but by and large, they are very good, and there is plenty to choose from if you want to splurge at a reasonable price. 

Agreed.  Their Horse Heaven Hills Sav. Blanc is outstanding as well… especially nice in the summertime.

[mchell810]

I sure hope some of these wines make it onboard; love the Eroica Riesling. I know most people were happy with the included wines but it was my biggest issue with Azamara. 

[donaldsc]

This is a list of the businesses that Sycamore Partners currently owns.  This is in a wide range of business areas and they obviously buy stuff as an investment or because they figure that they can bleed it dry and then spin it off.  This has nothing to do in either a positive or negative sense with their investment in Azamara.  My point is that the fact that they are now also in the wine business also has nothing to do in either a positive or negative sense with their investment in Azamara and it is is wishful thinking to that their investment will improve the quality of the wines sold on Azamara.  

 

DON

Current[edit]

• CommerceHub
• Staples (Acquired 2017)
• Pure Fishing (Acquired January 2019)^[4]

Brands include: ABU Garcia, All Star, Berkley, Chub, Fenwick, Greys, Hardy, Hodgman, Johnson, JRC, Mitchell, Penn, Pflueger, Sebile, Shakespeare, SpiderWire, Stren, and Ugly Stik.

• Belk (Acquired 2015)
• Hot Topic (Acquired 2013)
• MGF Sourcing
• NBG Home
• Talbots (Acquired 2012)
• The Limited (Acquired 2017)
• Torrid^[5] (acquired 2013)
• Premium Apparel LLC (affiliate of Sycamore Partners used to acquire Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant and related brands from Ascena Retail Group in December 2020.)^[6]
  • Ann Taylor
  • Lane Bryant (Cacique)
  • LOFT
  • Lou & Grey
• Azamara Cruises (Acquired January 2021)
• Express, Inc. (January 2021)

[oddjob16]

19 hours ago, donaldsc said:

My point is that the fact that they are now also in the wine business also has nothing to do in either a positive or negative sense with their investment in Azamara and it is is wishful thinking to that their investment will improve the quality of the wines sold on Azamara.  

 

As original poster I totally agree. The wine comment was meant to be a bit «tongue in cheek». But the purchase of Azamara for $211 million compared to the wine company at $1.200 million is just showing that they have financial muscles to support Azamaras way into the future and invest to make it a better company. The fact that they might sell it in the future is by no means negative in my opinion. 

[Dr H]

I have my fingers crossed. Azamara had growing pains when they first started, they found their niche and we have been served a great produce ever since. With luck, they will continue, and it will be tragic if this gem of a cruise line is driven into the dirt by the new owners. Time will tell, and for now, I am more than willing to give Sycamore more than the benefit of the doubt. 🤞

[81Zoomie]

We share your hope foe better quality included wine.  But, Azamara is not alone.  The included wine on Ponant was equally lackluster.  We figured sailing on a French ship would equal nice French wine, or at least great reds from our departure port in Argentina.  We were disappointed on both accounts. Hopefully they have cleared out anything hanging around from before the shutdowns.

[norn iron]

It always amazes me how much rubbish is talked about wine, and how many wine snobs there are on CC forums.

I enjoy a nice glass of wine, and don't mind spending above the odds on bottle, however, a couple of years back on Pursuit I had a decent amount of OBC so decided to educate myself so I enrolled with eight others in a three part wine tasting and appreciation course. 

There were nine of us participating and at each class we blind tasted three whites and three reds, so a total of 18 wines. The wines were all blind tasted with the labels obscured and surprise surprise not one participant was able to spot the grape variety or the country of origin on any of the wines.

 

Correct me if my maths is wrong, but that equates to 162 samples tastes and not one was identified correctly.

 

The point I'm making is people drink wine with their eyes. When they see the label they immediately make an assumption of good, average, nasty, cheap, expensive, premium etc etc and ultimately it is based on price and perception. I often see posts complaining about AZ serving $8 a bottle house wine, the proof is, if it was blind label the complaints would diminish.

 

I love the fact that in 2016 ASDA (at the time Walmart in the UK ) secured  a Platinum award of 95 points out of 100 in the Decanter magazine wine awards for a wine that was discounted at £4.37 ($6).

It was a stunner.

https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/asda-malbec-award-306481/

 

Azamara keep it simple, if you don't like the wine on offer, ask for another one.

[uktog]

So well said - how often in all sorts of products do we find blind tasting cannot spot the ££££ product.  Currently the best wines we can buy round here are at Lidl at £4.99 a bottle.  

[norn iron]

25 minutes ago, uktog said:

So well said - how often in all sorts of products do we find blind tasting cannot spot the ££££ product.  Currently the best wines we can buy round here are at Lidl at £4.99 a bottle.  

Lidl have some great wines. They have a Chianti at around £6 that is stonkingly good.

There was an interesting article by Victoria Moore, the Daily Telegraph's wine writer around five years ago when she met the senior wine buyer for Lidl in Germany.

 

The bottom line was, if the producer cannot produce 'millions' of bottles they don't even get through the door of Lidl, and yet the quality they offer is consistent and well priced .

 

Ah, I've just remembered and Argentinian Malbec they sell at £7 which is so good I may well make a journey to purchase tomorrow.

[Jim in OR]

I guess I’d have to challenge the conclusion that because nine people couldn’t identify the wines they were tasting it follows that no one would be able to identify them. You don’t specify the depth of the wine experience in those tasters, but I’m guessing it probably wasn’t very deep. 
 

In fact, many of us do know wine and can identify good wines from not so good wines regardless of price. Count me among those who would like to see an upgrade in the wines that Azamara offers. In fact, I would be OK with Azamara making no changes whatsoever to the daily included pours but to at least offer something mildly palatable with the beverage upgrade packages. In my opinion, the wines currently offered in the upgrade packages are no less dismal than the included wines.  
 

And to your broader point, while I do enjoy the better known expensive wines, I am more excited about finding something less expensive and less well known that punches above its weight class.  The current “house red” that my wife and I are drinking retails for around $10 and is head and shoulders above anything Azamara offers in the included wines or the upgrade wines. 
 

Good but inexpensive wines are out there. Azamara simply hasn’t found them yet. 

[norn iron]

8 minutes ago, Jim in OR said:

I guess I’d have to challenge the conclusion that because nine people couldn’t identify the wines they were tasting it follows that no one would be able to identify them. You don’t specify the depth of the wine experience in those tasters, but I’m guessing it probably wasn’t very deep. 

I didn't know any of the other eight participants until we met on the first tasting, so I can't quote their wine knowledge. 

From my own perspective I have a moderate cellar of a round 800+ bottles including some very fine French vintages, so I would rate my knowledge as above average, so I stand by my original posting.

 

 

[Jim in OR]

1 hour ago, norn iron said:

I didn't know any of the other eight participants until we met on the first tasting, so I can't quote their wine knowledge. 

From my own perspective I have a moderate cellar of a round 800+ bottles including some very fine French vintages, so I would rate my knowledge as above average, so I stand by my original posting.

 

 

One of the first things you learn in debate is that the appeal to authority, or argumentum ad verecundiam is a form of fallacy that looks good on the surface, but fails as evidence to support an argument.

 

I stand by my original post. There are good and inexpensive wines out there, but Azamara hasn’t found them yet. 

[Baynanno1]

Among others, we enjoyed a Louis Felipe Edwards red on board.

 

It was advertised at under $10 in a recent local Aldi catalogue.

 

Brought back pleasant cruising memories. 🙂

[Grandma Cruising]

10 hours ago, uktog said:

So well said - how often in all sorts of products do we find blind tasting cannot spot the ££££ product.  Currently the best wines we can buy round here are at Lidl at £4.99 a bottle.  

Aldi as well - many of their wines are award winners too. 

Edited August 28, 2021 by Grandma Cruising

[uktog]

3 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Aldi too - many of their wines are award winners too. 

Keep wishing we had an Aldi nearer than 8 miles away! 

[Grandma Cruising]

1 minute ago, uktog said:

Keep wishing we had an Aldi nearer than 8 miles away! 

We have 3 all within 4 miles, and 2 Lidls.

[Riocca]

With Aldi you can buy wine online usually there’s a larger selection than in store, minimum order is 6 bottles pre pandemic it was free delivery over £20 then became £30 now is £4.95. We have purchased some excellent wines at minimal cost from them, in fact most supermarkets offer good deals on drinkable wines these days.

We had the pleasure of meeting Ollie Smith once (well known U.K. television wine expert) his take was, it doesn’t matter how much you spend on the wine if you enjoy it it’s fine you don’t drink the label.

[uktog]

Good tip. I looked online certainly some lovely wines and deals. Unfortunately Ms Sturgeon does not allow us to enjoy any of the multiple buy discounts. I need an accommodation address in Berwick on Tweed for them 😂

[Lindy028]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Good tip. I looked online certainly some lovely wines and deals. Unfortunately Ms Sturgeon does not allow us to enjoy any of the multiple buy discounts. I need an accommodation address in Berwick on Tweed for them 😂

I know, we have friends who live in Ayr and they stock up when they visit relatives here! We’ve just had some lovely wines 🍷from M&S with 1/3  off, so many were £4:66 and then some clearance wines at £3:50, very handy as DH has just celebrated a big birthday.

[Baynanno1]

We tend to buy wines by the dozen. Our "cellar" is a very even temperature reasonably large enclosed space under the stairs that can comfortably house a couple of hundred bottles. No we don't guzzle. Most weeks when there are just the two of us at home we only consume a couple of bottles.

 

Most of what we buy is kept for 2 to 3 years after being purchased at sale price.  As Riocca said "it doesn’t matter how much you spend on the wine if you enjoy it it’s fine you don’t drink the label." It is more a matter of enjoying the taste and we have in the past had some awful tasting expensive ones.

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

We tend to buy wines by the dozen. Our "cellar" is a very even temperature reasonably large enclosed space under the stairs that can comfortably house a couple of hundred bottles.

Did that become available when Harry Potter went off to school?  🤣  [Sorry, I couldn't help myself...]

[Baynanno1]

12 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Did that become available when Harry Potter went off to school?  🤣  [Sorry, I couldn't help myself...]

You are forgiven . . .thanks for the laugh!

 

Not Harry's space, we had it before he was in print. 🙂