A question for you wine aficionados out there...

[DaKahuna]

None of the wine in my 'collection' is old enough to drink. I think 2016 is the oldest bottle of wine in my wine rack. They are all young enough not to have developed any sediment 🙂

My wine taste buds have shown they are not able to differentiate between a $80 bottle of wine and a $250 bottle so I do not own anything that cost more than $100 a bottle. 

 

 

[zitsky]

47 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

None of the wine in my 'collection' is old enough to drink. I think 2016 is the oldest bottle of wine in my wine rack. They are all young enough not to have developed any sediment 🙂

My wine taste buds have shown they are not able to differentiate between a $80 bottle of wine and a $250 bottle so I do not own anything that cost more than $100 a bottle. 

 

 

 

So what do you drink if you have nothing old enough to drink?

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, zitsky said:

 

So what do you drink if you have nothing old enough to drink?

 

By "not old enough to drink" I mean they are all young wines, under 21 years old. 

 

I belong to two wine clubs.  One with Cooper's Hawk, https://chwinery.com/, and the other is a local vineyard 868 Estate Vineyards, https://868estatevineyards.com.  So most of my wines come from those two.  I do have about 40 botttles of reds left over from a multi-year membership in Wente Vienyareds, https://wentevineyards.com/,  You may recall at one time Wente provided some very nice Wines for Celebrity but no longers. 

 

Additionally, we live in what is know as Virginia's Wine Country and visit various vineyards in the region.   Just last week I met up with some friends at Vint Hill Craft Winery, https://www.vinthillcraftwinery.com/.  I did a three wine flight and purchased a bottle of G.S.M.  One of my friends gave me a glass of his Petite Verdot. 

 

So as you can see, my wines are predominately red, my wife loves Moscato though, and are young wines. 

 

[zitsky]

25 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

By "not old enough to drink" I mean they are all young wines, under 21 years old. 

 

I belong to two wine clubs.  One with Cooper's Hawk, https://chwinery.com/, and the other is a local vineyard 868 Estate Vineyards, https://868estatevineyards.com.  So most of my wines come from those two.  I do have about 40 botttles of reds left over from a multi-year membership in Wente Vienyareds, https://wentevineyards.com/,  You may recall at one time Wente provided some very nice Wines for Celebrity but no longers. 

 

Additionally, we live in what is know as Virginia's Wine Country and visit various vineyards in the region.   Just last week I met up with some friends at Vint Hill Craft Winery, https://www.vinthillcraftwinery.com/.  I did a three wine flight and purchased a bottle of G.S.M.  One of my friends gave me a glass of his Petite Verdot. 

 

So as you can see, my wines are predominately red, my wife loves Moscato though, and are young wines. 

 

I did a quick tour of 2-3 Virginia wineries with friends years ago.  Very nice.  The only one I remember is Saudè?  Very nice stemless souvenir glasses.

[DaKahuna]

10 minutes ago, zitsky said:

I did a quick tour of 2-3 Virginia wineries with friends years ago.  Very nice.  The only one I remember is Saudè?  Very nice stemless souvenir glasses.

 

Saude is about 160 miles to the south East of us.  We are in Northern Virginia 

 

 

 

 

[markeb]

4 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Additionally, we live in what is know as Virginia's Wine Country and visit various vineyards in the region.   Just last week I met up with some friends at Vint Hill Craft Winery, https://www.vinthillcraftwinery.com/.  I did a three wine flight and purchased a bottle of G.S.M.  One of my friends gave me a glass of his Petite Verdot. 

 

Vint Hill is a lot of fun! Wish VABC would let them and Old Busthead (brewery) comingle. We're 15 minutes from their sister vineyard, Effingham. Have a barrel tasting there on Sunday. Our other favorite Virginia winery is Doukenie, also in Hillsboro. Virginia is getting interesting in wines. Way beyond the green pepper Cab Francs and Viogniers of old. Petite Verdot can be amazing here, and not just as a 1-2% filler in a Bordeaux blend.

 

Our other memberships are in Washington. Just find them more approachable than Napa/Sonoma, which I do love. Used to live near Livermore and went to Wente occasionally. Usually visited Lodi instead...

[DaKahuna]

@markeb Yes, Vintage Hill was very interesting to me, especially for it’s history.  
 

I live ver close to Hillsborough and in addition to 868 Estate Vineyards, I have also been to Breaux Vineyards as well.  We’ll have to give Doukenie a visit.  I’ve also visited Thomas Jefferson’s down near Richmond but that was a very long time ago.  But I do agree with you about Virginia wines expanding in a good way, although I do enjoy a local Cabernet Franc. 
 

Wente is amazing.  I was a member of their wine club for six years.  I visited there every time I was in that area for work. 
 

I have had some very good Willamette valley wines from Washington.  I’ve never had the opportunity to visit any of the vineyards there.  

[markeb]

@DaKahuna We can get inside baseball and bore people to tears here! The Cab Francs are much better these days! Doukenie makes one of the best Chardonnays in Virginia (IMHO); it's actually why we joined. If you're near Hillsboro, definitely worth a stop. More of a winery than an event center (Breaux these days...). Like most of the wineries in Virginia, they're really a membership winery. 

 

Willamette is actually Oregon, but that's OK. Some of my favorite Pinot Noirs. Washington just does amazing wines, and they're still better priced than California. The vineyards are in Eastern Washington, and we've been treated like kings over there. Most people go to the tasting rooms in Woodinville and never venture over the mountain to see the actual grapes... 

Edited March 17, 2023 by markeb

[drakes2]

8 hours ago, markeb said:

@DaKahuna We can get inside baseball and bore people to tears here! The Cab Francs are much better these days! Doukenie makes one of the best Chardonnays in Virginia (IMHO); it's actually why we joined. If you're near Hillsboro, definitely worth a stop. More of a winery than an event center (Breaux these days...). Like most of the wineries in Virginia, they're really a membership winery. 

 

Willamette is actually Oregon, but that's OK. Some of my favorite Pinot Noirs. Washington just does amazing wines, and they're still better priced than California. The vineyards are in Eastern Washington, and we've been treated like kings over there. Most people go to the tasting rooms in Woodinville and never venture over the mountain to see the actual grapes... 

One of my favorite pinots from Willamette is La Crema but Celebrity won't stock it any more. Their Elegance by Kendall Jackson  is very nice. 

[r2h2]

1 hour ago, drakes2 said:

One of my favorite pinots from Willamette is La Crema but Celebrity won't stock it any more. Their Elegance by Kendall Jackson  is very nice. 

I no longer drink but one of the better Pinots in Oregon is Rex Hill Newberg,OR.  I used to live 4 miles from this winery. If you can get it, I highly recommend it.

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, drakes2 said:

One of my favorite pinots from Willamette is La Crema but Celebrity won't stock it any more. Their Elegance by Kendall Jackson  is very nice. 

 

I'll take La Crema over Kendall Jackson all that long but if Kendall Jackson is all that is available, then I'm happy with it.  Especially their Elegance.  As you said, it's very nice. 

 

[scubagal44]

14 hours ago, markeb said:

 

Willamette is actually Oregon, but that's OK. Some of my favorite Pinot Noirs. Washington just does amazing wines, and they're still better priced than California. The vineyards are in Eastern Washington, and we've been treated like kings over there. Most people go to the tasting rooms in Woodinville and never venture over the mountain to see the actual grapes... 

 

Haha don't lump all of California wines in with Napa/Sonoma prices.  I've been a wine club member at various wineries in the Napa Valley for 10+ years and I do love them.  Recently though (past 4ish years) we've been spending more of our time in Paso Robles wine country and picked up three wine club memberships there.  Honestly I can't tell you the last time we visited the Napa Valley to go wine tasting, we opt to head to Paso instead (and they're both the same distance away from us).  The wines are more affordable, the vibe is more chill, and overall it's just more fun.  The wine is on par quality wise with Napa/Sonoma wines, but without the marked up price tag. 

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, scubagal44 said:

 

Haha don't lump all of California wines in with Napa/Sonoma prices.  I've been a wine club member at various wineries in the Napa Valley for 10+ years and I do love them.  Recently though (past 4ish years) we've been spending more of our time in Paso Robles wine country and picked up three wine club memberships there.  Honestly I can't tell you the last time we visited the Napa Valley to go wine tasting, we opt to head to Paso instead (and they're both the same distance away from us).  The wines are more affordable, the vibe is more chill, and overall it's just more fun.  The wine is on par quality wise with Napa/Sonoma wines, but without the marked up price tag. 

Sniff sniff.  Well I’ve been going to PR a lot longer than you.  Sniff sniff.  So if you like, I could tell you which PR wineries you should go to.  🤓

 

Hint.  Don’t bother with Brady.

 

I was at a wine tasting recently with a couple that pulled out some $80 PR wine.  I was made to feel inadequate discussing my $50 PR wine from Opolo.  No it wasn’t my low self esteem.

[scubagal44]

10 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Sniff sniff.  Well I’ve been going to PR a lot longer than you.  Sniff sniff.  So if you like, I could tell you which PR wineries you should go to.  🤓

 

Hint.  Don’t bother with Brady.

 

I was at a wine tasting recently with a couple that pulled out some $80 PR wine.  I was made to feel inadequate discussing my $50 PR wine from Opolo.  No it wasn’t my low self esteem.

 

Lol do share!  I'm always open to wine recs. 🍷  Our faves are Adelaida, Calcareous, and Niner (and have memberships at all three).  Previously also had memberships at ONX and Mitchella but dropped them recently due to diminishing wine quality.  Have been to Opolo, love their patio and pizzas!  Enjoyed Sculpterra, Daou (had to do it once..won't pay their tasting fee again but really do like their wines).  Eberle is fun, as is Ecluse, but enjoyed the Ecluse ambience more than the actual wine so won't go back.  Hoping to visit Le Cuvier in the near future.  

[zitsky]

8 minutes ago, scubagal44 said:

 

Lol do share!  I'm always open to wine recs. 🍷  Our faves are Adelaida, Calcareous, and Niner (and have memberships at all three).  Previously also had memberships at ONX and Mitchella but dropped them recently due to diminishing wine quality.  Have been to Opolo, love their patio and pizzas!  Enjoyed Sculpterra, Daou (had to do it once..won't pay their tasting fee again but really do like their wines).  Eberle is fun, as is Ecluse, but enjoyed the Ecluse ambience more than the actual wine so won't go back.  Hoping to visit Le Cuvier in the near future.  

Well.  I don’t go to places with fancy names.  Sniff sniff. Daou is good.  I prefer Opolo.  And Tablas Creek.  Not a fan of Cobble Creek.  Opaque, Mina Mesa are good.

 

You’ll see except for Opolo I don’t spend that much.  Because you don’t have to.

[neverlaysup]

On 3/15/2023 at 4:01 PM, LaCal said:

What’s the Best Champagne you can order if you have the Premium drink pkg……The ship i’ll me on is the Solstice 

 

Thanks 🍹😜

Nothing worth writing home about but something on that list may be palatable. Now that we can bring 4 bottles between the two of us, I always bring a quality bottle of bubbles.

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, neverlaysup said:

Nothing worth writing home about but something on that list may be palatable. Now that we can bring 4 bottles between the two of us, I always bring a quality bottle of bubbles.

I have a napa cab called Auros from 2016 in my Cellar never opened it but plan to bring on my Apex TA next month. Any thoughts on this particular wine? Beautiful bottle and anxious to open. 😆 

[markeb]

11 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

I have a napa cab called Auros from 2016 in my Cellar never opened it but plan to bring on my Apex TA next month. Any thoughts on this particular wine? Beautiful bottle and anxious to open. 😆 

It looks familiar, but it’s not in my cellar tracker. Good user reviews. Sounds like a nice wine. It qualifies as a cab, but it’s really a California Bordeaux blend. A couple of reviews suggest it fades fast once opened. If you’re not going to finish it in on sitting, check the next night…

[neverlaysup]

14 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

I have a napa cab called Auros from 2016 in my Cellar never opened it but plan to bring on my Apex TA next month. Any thoughts on this particular wine? Beautiful bottle and anxious to open. 😆 

You should take it for sure. It's always nice for me to drink nice wines I have curated for my own collections versus buying overpriced bottles on board. There is nothing wrong with some of their wines by the glass (my beverage package covers them) but I never find them truly enjoyable.

[drakes2]

3 minutes ago, neverlaysup said:

You should take it for sure. It's always nice for me to drink nice wines I have curated for my own collections versus buying overpriced bottles on board. There is nothing wrong with some of their wines by the glass (my beverage package covers them) but I never find them truly enjoyable.

I feel the same way. I ike to drink what I truly enjoy and many of the ships stock leaves a lot to be desired plus I rarely take the AI as been disappointed a few times when I upgraded to premium and they didn't have onboard or ran out.  I was gifted a couple bottles of Freemark Abbey on my last Celebrity cruise one of which I'll be bringing with me. 😆 

[iceleven]

On 3/15/2023 at 7:00 PM, DCPIV said:

 

Sounds perfect for whisky. 

Crystal, especially heirloom crystal has lead in it. Decanting the occasional wine in a crystal decanter is harmless but you wouldn't want to store any liquor, such as whisky, for any extended time.