First Growth Wine Flight

[D&N]

Has anyone tried this, particularly on Queen Mary 2?

The current price shown is $350 and an old daily program confirms that 15% is charged on top, and states to ask ones Sommelier.

I'm aware of what they are, how I would expect them to taste, and how Cunard serve them using the Coravin Timeless system.

 

I'd be interested to know where they were served?

Do you have a choice of when?

Would they serve one set of 5 x 50ml glasses and allow 2 people to taste from those?

And if anyone knows; If you have drinks package, would this qualify for the 20% discount?

 

If we were to try this, the ideal would be to arrange with our sommelier to come earlier for dinner one evening in BC, have the flight served at our table and treat it as a replacement for our aperitifs. 125ml each with water to clean the palate would be similar to what we normally have in pre dinner drinks.

[techteach]

@D&N I’m having trouble finding this offer. Can you lead me to it? I think my DH would be very interested.

[D&N]

31 minutes ago, techteach said:

@D&N I’m having trouble finding this offer. Can you lead me to it? I think my DH would be very interested.

It's on page 4 of the most recent wine list:

https://www.cunard.com/content/dam/cunard/my-voyage/pdfs/qm/qm_wine_list_aug_2022a.pdf

I also found a 2016 copy of daily programs somewhere that someone had posted that gave similar info with the instruction to speak to sommelier. Might take a while to find that again.

 

It's not unique to Cunard; I also found a video of two guys sitting in a garden tasting the 5 wines concerned.

 

I'm thinking it's a good way to establish whether our palates would really appreciate the difference between those and something we might pick up on offer here for €50. Then if one of them came up in the wine fairs at €300 to €500 it might be worth buying. Although if that happened I'd buy a Coravin Timeless as well.

[techteach]

Going to check it out.

[NE John]

On 3/26/2023 at 9:04 AM, D&N said:

the ideal would be to arrange with our sommelier to come earlier for dinner one evening in BC

One of the best wine flights I had was in Napa Valley and it started at 10am. 
Now that’s a way to start the day!
If you’re on a TA, why not?

[techteach]

I think if this tasting had been offered on our 2022 December TA we would have been offered it as we were invited to the California tasting. If it is offered on our QM2 cruise in June/July we will do it. Or at least my DH will and we’ll report back. It is funny you brought this tasting up today after a conversation DH and I had at dinner last night. (Drouhin, 2018, Laurene, Pinot Noir, Oregon) Pierre Gagnaire had a restaurant in Las Vegas called Twist. He had a 7 course tasting with 7 first growths matched to it. DH has planned for years to do this when he retires. He checked last night and Twist is now closed and we need to plan an alternative that is equally fantastic.

[techteach]

@NE John I was not a fan of the California wine tasting flight on our TA. The tasting was called California Dreaming. St. Super Sauvignon Blanc, Cakebread Chardonnay, Hyde de Villaine Chardonnay, Far Niente Chardonnay, Buena Vista Winery Pinot Noir, Seghesio Zinfandel, Cakebread Merlot, Dominus Estate. I did not keep my tasting notes. Food was mediocre.

[NE John]

40 minutes ago, techteach said:

not a fan of the California wine tasting flight on our TA

Bummer…Those are major league producers too. Maybe too “oaky”?

[techteach]

@NE John We have between 800 and 1200 bottles in our cellar. Most from WA, CA and OR. We’ve been collecting since 1986 and visited Napa many times. Some were served too young, or perhaps not allowed to breathe. The Dominus was fantastic. Far Niente has always had a solid Chard. We drink pinot several times a week with dinner, and I’m really particular. You summed it up properly most were only “okay.” I forget how much it cost…$150 - $175 pp? Not worth it.

[NE John]

38 minutes ago, techteach said:

@NE John We have between 800 and 1200 bottles in our cellar. Most from WA, CA and OR. We’ve been collecting since 1986 and visited Napa many times. Some were served too young, or perhaps not allowed to breathe. The Dominus was fantastic. Far Niente has always had a solid Chard. We drink pinot several times a week with dinner, and I’m really particular. You summed it up properly most were only “okay.” I forget how much it cost…$150 - $175 pp? Not worth it.

I actually tried to spell “Oakie”. Like overly Oaked. Many CA whites are like that. 
Impressed with your collection…

Do you feel Cunard’s wine prices too high? I think many bottles onboard look reasonably priced. 
 

[Rothko1]

I think the wine prices are reasonable, on the most part.  I like the fact that it is a very extensive list; you can always find some decent priced bottles from interesting parts of the world.   Normally, you can forget good value from Napa, Bordeaux, Burgundy, etc.  But countries like Chile, Argentina, Germany, and South Africa can yield some really good wines at good prices.

 

Normally, my test for the value of a wine list is to see what they price Veuve Cliquot NV champagne at.  it's almost ubiquitous, so you can readily gauge its price compared to retail and other wine lists.  Unfortunately, the Cunard wine list doesn't carry it (I'm actually very disappointed with their champagne selection - one NV only and its Krug Grande Cuvee??).  They do carry Laurent Perrier, which is slightly less expensive than Veuve, and the price for a bottle of NV Laurent Perrier isn't too bad.

[techteach]

16 hours ago, NE John said:

I actually tried to spell “Oakie”. Like overly Oaked. Many CA whites are like that. 
Impressed with your collection…

Do you feel Cunard’s wine prices too high? I think many bottles onboard look reasonably priced. 
 

Agreed with too much oak in some of the CA wines and I thought we were through with malolactic fermentation! We thought the prices were reasonable and $25. for corkage is low compared to what we pay in Seattle/Las Vegas. We are excited to see 3 wines from England on the list and plan to have them all 3 opened for lunch on our first real day. We want to try them side-by-side and the sommelier has always done a great job of keeping the bottles for the next meal. I see you mentioned the Laurent Perrier. Champagne makes me sleepy…but I did enjoy a glass of their rose, followed by a nap!

[techteach]

@Rothko1 @NE John I just got an email from our wine merchant offering Dominus Estate 2019 for $325. I check the QM2 wine list and the 2011 is $325. On the Washington list they have the Kung Fu Girl Riesling for $50. and it runs $25. in the store here. We drink it with spicy stir-frys.

[Rothko1]

24 minutes ago, techteach said:

@Rothko1 @NE John I just got an email from our wine merchant offering Dominus Estate 2019 for $325. I check the QM2 wine list and the 2011 is $325. On the Washington list they have the Kung Fu Girl Riesling for $50. and it runs $25. in the store here. We drink it with spicy stir-frys.

 

I'm a huge fan of German Rieslings (Mosel and Rhine), but not so much new world or Alsatian Riesling.  

[D&N]

We only have 96 polystyrene "holes" in our cellar, which is plenty for us.

Most daily drinking is boxes from Languedoc-Roussillon, which is known for it's volumes rather than quality; Red Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon or sometimes blends; Rosé Syrah, Merlot and blends; White Sauvignon, which doubles up as a cooking wine. They are similar to Cunard's $30-$36 wines, we usually pay less than €8 for a 5 litre box. We have bottles marked so we can serve about 600ml between us for a meal.

Sunday and special occasions is always a bottle paired to the meal. We don't have any hang-ups about red with fish or white with beef, but usually match traditionally.

Most stores have a "Foire au Vins" early spring and late summer. The biggest local store's best one is late August and the catalogue is about 90 pages. I choose mainly what we'll drink over the year but look out for good deals to keep for a few years. Since I've been looking at the First Growth I've also discovered the other classes and realise I have a couple of Château Lynch-Moussas from the fifth at present, and have had other fourths and fifths in past.

I mainly go for Bordeaux reds, Burgundy white & red, Beaujolais red, Rhone red (but I do have 1 Châteauneuf white), and Provence rosés.

I'll pay more attention to wines from the classifications this year. Château Pontet-Canet is invariably there at about €95. It seems to get best ratings in the "Fifth" at tastings, and when you consider we normally get deals that give about 40% off the list price it would be good value. Montrose from the second was there in 2020 at €75.

 

[D&N]

It's not looking as if anyone who has tried the "First Growth Wine Flight" is going to post, so if @techteach or anyone else does try it, or simply talks to their sommelier about it, perhaps they could ask my questions:

 

Do you have a choice of where and when, preferably in restaurant pre dinner?

Would they allow 2 people to taste from one flight?

Does it qualify for the package 20% discount? (bonus but not important)

 

We won't be crossing again until May/June 2025, so there's plenty of time.

[Rothko1]

That's a nice little arrangement you have.  I assume that most of your bottles are drinkers you are going to open soon, so you don't have to worry about long-term storage.

 

 

[techteach]

@D&N I’ve taken a picture of your questions and we will be asking some of the same. We are hoping to have it as a pairing with dinner and we plan to share. I’ll probably order a white and a red by the glass on the side. I’m going to call prior to sailing to let them know our plan.

 

How clever of you to use the shipping containers! We have 3 sections. #1 - Long Term in a warmed/cooled wine fridge that holds about 300. We have a few bottles of 1986 Mouton we bought on futures for $99. in it and lots of Joseph Phelps Bacchus and Insignia. During the last recession Beringer sold us their Howell Mtn. Private Reserve for as little as $50. so I stocked up. DH also keeps his port in wine fridge. #2 is under the stairs on real wooden racks and it’s divided into The Big Pinot Rack, The Little White Rack, The Washington/Oregon Rack, The California Rack and The Little Red Rack. #3 is in the coolest part of the basement against cement walls and is called the Ready Rack. Any wine on that rack can be consumed at any time. Unfortunately we still have boxes stacked from shipments that arrive direct from the wineries as part of club membership. All bottles are tagged and info is entered onto a spreadsheet. The picture shows the tags of wines consumed in the last week. We dream of visiting France and the wineries after DH retires.

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, techteach said:

@D&N I’ve taken a picture of your questions and we will be asking some of the same. We are hoping to have it as a pairing with dinner and we plan to share. I’ll probably order a white and a red by the glass on the side. I’m going to call prior to sailing to let them know our plan.

 

How clever of you to use the shipping containers! We have 3 sections. #1 - Long Term in a warmed/cooled wine fridge that holds about 300. We have a few bottles of 1986 Mouton we bought on futures for $99. in it and lots of Joseph Phelps Bacchus and Insignia. During the last recession Beringer sold us their Howell Mtn. Private Reserve for as little as $50. so I stocked up. DH also keeps his port in wine fridge. #2 is under the stairs on real wooden racks and it’s divided into The Big Pinot Rack, The Little White Rack, The Washington/Oregon Rack, The California Rack and The Little Red Rack. #3 is in the coolest part of the basement against cement walls and is called the Ready Rack. Any wine on that rack can be consumed at any time. Unfortunately we still have boxes stacked from shipments that arrive direct from the wineries as part of club membership. All bottles are tagged and info is entered onto a spreadsheet. The picture shows the tags of wines consumed in the last week. We dream of visiting France and the wineries after DH retires.

Well, all I can say is that it is a shame you are not near enough for us to drop in for a meal. The ready rack would do. I doubt my taste buds are well enough trained for the dearer stuff.😀

[D&N]

29 minutes ago, Rothko1 said:

That's a nice little arrangement you have.  I assume that most of your bottles are drinkers you are going to open soon, so you don't have to worry about long-term storage.

 

 

Yes. Being below ground it's the most constant temperature we have, varying between 14C and 24C over the year. I don't buy much that is advised "À Conserver". But I do follow comments on Vivino and CellarTracker about drink dates and try to keep best bottles until they are hopefully tasting good.

If I'm going to be getting much at a higher price range I'll look at buying a storage fridge.

[techteach]

@exlondoner I too wish you were near enough to drop in for dinner. @Victoria2 would also be invited and several others.

[techteach]

@D&N I just shared your pictures with DH. Seattle is on a seismic fault line and I think your storage would handle the shaking well.

[D&N]

13 minutes ago, techteach said:

How clever of you to use the shipping containers!

Not so clever. They sell them here for that purpose.

 

Our last fatal quake in the region was 1909, but residential buildings are poured concrete.

Edited March 29, 2023 by D&N

[Rothko1]

I've got two large Eurocave fridges in our place in the mountains.  Most of my good stuff is up there.  The rest is down here in Florida, in a small wine fridge, and some off-site storage.

 

I love Insignia.  The 1997 Phelps Insignia is one of the best wines I've ever had.  

 

Lots of Vintage Port, Riesling, Bordeaux and California cabs.  A few cases of champagne, Chilean and Argentinian stuff.

 

I'm not a big collector of Italian or Spanish.

[techteach]

@D&N Sell them for storage? Really. We get them in shipments of sparkling and recycle them.