Wine list

[nini]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

I'm not a connoisseur.  But, I enjoy a full bodied rioja, and a meaty Malbec. White wine - again,  a good white rioja,  although not that easy to find. 

Thanks! 

[federalexpress]

13 hours ago, wowzz said:

Sometimes, when discussing wine prices on a cruise, it is like entering a parallel universe, where normal pricing no longer exists.

Yes, I know that there will be an enormous mark up, as there is in a land based restaurant,  and that many cruisers will have a package.

But, take the case of the Silverado Cab Sauv. $18 a glass, or $21 with service charge. Lets assume a generous 4 pours to a bottle - so $84 a bottle. For a Brit like me,  that equates to almost £70 a bottle!

Silverado is perfectly pleasant,  but the markup  is getting on for over 650%, when compared to similar wines available in the UK, and I guess in the US as well. 

I just wonder if Princess have thrown the pricing manual out of the window,  now that so many of us have a package, and just slot wines into either a sub $15 or sub $20 category, regardless of the base cost  of  the wine.

 

To be fair, Silverado Cab Sauv would retail for £40-50 in the UK. It might not be worth that much, but that's a different story.

 

And for sure, is someone was offering me a Canyon Road Merlot, which is a pretty rubbish wine, in the Plus package and I can get Silverado for a few bucks more, as you suggested earlier, that to me looks like a no brainer. It's actually the implied mark up on the Canyon Road I'd have a problem with. That's a seven quid bottle which they appear to be selling for not far short of £40.

[RedIguana]

17 hours ago, wowzz said:

But, take the case of the Silverado Cab Sauv. $18 a glass, or $21 with service charge. Lets assume a generous 4 pours to a bottle - so $84 a bottle. For a Brit like me,  that equates to almost £70 a bottle!

Silverado is perfectly pleasant,  but the markup  is getting on for over 650%, when compared to similar wines available in the UK, and I guess in the US as well. 

Silverado cab here in the US is about $50 retail, so about 40 GBP (no pound sterling symbol on our keyboards either, guess I should learn the ascii code), so well less than 100% markup. Typical restaurant mark-ups here are 3-4X for the cheaper stuff, 2-3X for mid-price and above. Silverado pretty reasonably priced on Princess compared to retail. Celebrity with Decoy at roughly $15 a glass and Royal with Oberon at the same aren't bad either. 

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, RedIguana said:

Silverado cab here in the US is about $50 retail, so about 40 GBP (no pound sterling symbol on our keyboards either, guess I should learn the ascii code), so well less than 100% markup. Typical restaurant mark-ups here are 3-4X for the cheaper stuff, 2-3X for mid-price and above. Silverado pretty reasonably priced on Princess compared to retail. Celebrity with Decoy at roughly $15 a glass and Royal with Oberon at the same aren't bad either. 

Thanks for that.  I must admit, I didn't think Silverado was that special,  and certainly not worth that much.  

Perfectly palatable,  but nothing else.  

[RedIguana]

2 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Thanks for that.  I must admit, I didn't think Silverado was that special,  and certainly not worth that much.  

Perfectly palatable,  but nothing else.  

I saw that you mentioned a Rioja in a previous post. I stayed in Amsterdam for 3 nights last year pre-cruise (Norway). Bought 4 cabs from different shops while there ranging from 40 to 50 euro and a rioja at about 25. Did not really care for any of the Cabs, but the Rioja was excellent. I am in no way a connoisseur, my opinion is drink what you like at any price point. I found the Cabs I tried while there similar to South African or South American cabs, which to me seem to have a real "earthy" bite 3/4's of the way through, which I don't find in the California cabs. I've added a few Rioja's to my collection since then, and will delve into them again next time I get to that side of the pond. Like or dislike, one of the things I do when I travel is try the local stuff.

Princess appears to have Caymus at $28 a glass at vines. Hmmm, so $8 a glass if you have Premier. I think I know where some of my extra OBC will be going later this month.....

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, RedIguana said:

I saw that you mentioned a Rioja in a previous post. I stayed in Amsterdam for 3 nights last year pre-cruise (Norway). Bought 4 cabs from different shops while there ranging from 40 to 50 euro and a rioja at about 25. Did not really care for any of the Cabs, but the Rioja was excellent. I am in no way a connoisseur, my opinion is drink what you like at any price point. I found the Cabs I tried while there similar to South African or South American cabs, which to me seem to have a real "earthy" bite 3/4's of the way through, which I don't find in the California cabs. I've added a few Rioja's to my collection since then, and will delve into them again next time I get to that side of the pond. Like or dislike, one of the things I do when I travel is try the local stuff.

Princess appears to have Caymus at $28 a glass at vines. Hmmm, so $8 a glass if you have Premier. I think I know where some of my extra OBC will be going later this month.....

Thank you for an excellent post.

In an ideal world we would meet up in Vines to discuss further,  but I will give a few thoughts, and some generalisations that I am sure will be challenged !

We now live in the UK, and normally never spend more than £10/ $12 on a bottle of wine from one of the major UK supermarket chains. That gives us options from  Chile,  Argentina,  South Africa,  Australia,  and obviously Spain,  France, Portugal etc. Strangely, there are very few US offerings other than Gallo. Say no more! 

I have to say, that when we have been "snow birding" in Florida we have never seen the same range in a store such as Publix. 

When on a cruise, chatting in Vines,  US cruisers always seem to stick to US wines, rather than exploring other options. (Sorry - just an observation). Perhaps the issue is that they are unaware of other options, and will inevitably opt for Silverado !

We also lived in Spain for 10 years or so, and consequently got accustomed to, how shall I say, a more robust wine when out and about !

Perhaps I am wrong, but for some reason Rioja and Malbec do not seem to be common in the US,  but I would happily drink an average Rioja over a good Cab every day !

 

[nini]

57 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Thank you for an excellent post.

In an ideal world we would meet up in Vines to discuss further,  but I will give a few thoughts, and some generalisations that I am sure will be challenged !

We now live in the UK, and normally never spend more than £10/ $12 on a bottle of wine from one of the major UK supermarket chains. That gives us options from  Chile,  Argentina,  South Africa,  Australia,  and obviously Spain,  France, Portugal etc. Strangely, there are very few US offerings other than Gallo. Say no more! 

I have to say, that when we have been "snow birding" in Florida we have never seen the same range in a store such as Publix. 

When on a cruise, chatting in Vines,  US cruisers always seem to stick to US wines, rather than exploring other options. (Sorry - just an observation). Perhaps the issue is that they are unaware of other options, and will inevitably opt for Silverado !

We also lived in Spain for 10 years or so, and consequently got accustomed to, how shall I say, a more robust wine when out and about !

Perhaps I am wrong, but for some reason Rioja and Malbec do not seem to be common in the US,  but I would happily drink an average Rioja over a good Cab every day !

 

Hi @wowzz if you snow bird in Florida, have you been able to visit a Total Wine store? That may help with the variety you are seeking. I am one those from the USA who loves exploring wine from other countries. Many years ago, I worked in an Italian restaurant in Oregon. Holy cow!!! The owner was a gem and only Italian wines were available. I learned so much about wine and learned to love the wines we served... In Reidel glasses I may note!

[RedIguana]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

I have to say, that when we have been "snow birding" in Florida we have never seen the same range in a store such as Publix

I'm not sure if you meant the Publix had a great selection or very few. But the larger Publix's in Florida have a much greater selection in just a grocery store than all 6 or 7 wine/liquor stores I visited in Amsterdam combined. I was actually expecting to see a greater selection there. The Publix by me has a terrible wine section (It's an old store, over 50 years, so small, and not a real affluent neighborhood). 

 

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

We now live in the UK, and normally never spend more than £10/ $12 on a bottle of wine from one of the major UK supermarket chains. That gives us options from  Chile,  Argentina,  South Africa,  Australia,  and obviously Spain,  France, Portugal etc.

We have all of those at my not so good local Publix (5 minute walk). The Chilean, Argentinian, South African, Australian, etc are the cheap wines here (same as your 10/12 GBP prices). The difference between the "better" Publix is the addition of wines over and above those cheap staples, the great majority of them being from California. But they also carry stuff like Moet and Dom Perignon, so couple hundred buck a bottle stuff.

 

2 hours ago, nini said:

Hi @wowzz if you snow bird in Florida, have you been able to visit a Total Wine store?

Total Wine rocks for selection. But the best bang for the buck is Publix weekly wine Bogo's. Just have to catch the right stuff and stock up. Buy it buy the case whenever you see Oberon, Ghost Pines, Franciscan, B.R. Cohn Silver, King Stag etc.

 

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

In an ideal world we would meet up in Vines to discuss further

I think I would rather enjoy that!

 

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

US cruisers always seem to stick to US wines, rather than exploring other options. (Sorry - just an observation). Perhaps the issue is that they are unaware of other options, and will inevitably opt for Silverado !

No reason to be sorry, as a US cruiser I would agree with you. Not my problem if most US cruisers are stuck in the Mud. My preference is to try other things, especially if on a drink package.

[nini]

4 hours ago, RedIguana said:

 

 

Total Wine rocks for selection. But the best bang for the buck is Publix weekly wine Bogo's. Just have to catch the right stuff and stock up. Buy it buy the case whenever you see Oberon, Ghost Pines, Franciscan, B.R. Cohn Silver, King Stag etc.

 

 

 

Sadly, there is no Public on the west coast, so we rely on other means to find diverse wines.

[Moose07]

I know this is not wine but do not know where else to ask. Does anyone have a list of the cognacs? We will have the premier beverage page when we go to Norway and Iceland and I would like to compare a few before we go.

[c-boy]

9 hours ago, nini said:

 

Sadly, there is no Public on the west coast, so we rely on other means to find diverse wines.

😕

[nini]

1 hour ago, c-boy said:

😕

 

Shoot, I spelled "Publix" incorrectly!

[voljeep]

at our local Publix this week - bogo - Casillero del Diablo Wine Cabernet Sauvignon and other varietals.  Dos Equis XX - 12 pack bottles

[c-boy]

1 hour ago, nini said:

 

Shoot, I spelled "Publix" incorrectly!

naaa, just wish we had em' here.

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, voljeep said:

at our local Publix this week - bogo - Casillero del Diablo Wine Cabernet Sauvignon and other varietals.  Dos Equis XX - 12 pack bottles

Ooh, I do like the Casillero del Diablo. ( please don't judge !) 

How much is a bottle before the BOGOF deal ? 

Edited May 7, 2023 by wowzz

[wowzz]

20 hours ago, RedIguana said:

I think I would rather enjoy that!

Let's just hope! 

[RedIguana]

8 minutes ago, wowzz said:

How much is a bottle before the BOGOF deal ?

One by me this morning was under $10 I think. 

[RedIguana]

16 hours ago, nini said:

Sadly, there is no Public on the west coast, so we rely on other means to find diverse wines.

So many wineries there to visit though. One of these days I'll get a chance to visit some. Will be spending four nights with the wife's family in the Yakima valley area before my Alaskan cruise, so will do a few there.

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

One by me this morning was under $10 I think. 

Crikey, that's a good price,  and a steal if it is on offer as a bogof.

[Carnevale]

12 hours ago, Moose07 said:

I know this is not wine but do not know where else to ask. Does anyone have a list of the cognacs? We will have the premier beverage page when we go to Norway and Iceland and I would like to compare a few before we go.

I would really appreciate this information too!

[nini]

59 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

So many wineries there to visit though. One of these days I'll get a chance to visit some. Will be spending four nights with the wife's family in the Yakima valley area before my Alaskan cruise, so will do a few there.

 

Yes! Washington State is quickly be coming the new "Napa/ Sonoma. There is a separate section at Total Wine with WA wines and I have found many I like; of all budget requirements.

[jwattle]

From what I've seen, the wine lists on Oz cruises are much different also; something to look forward to! 🥰

[voljeep]

13 hours ago, wowzz said:

Ooh, I do like the Casillero del Diablo. ( please don't judge !) 

How much is a bottle before the BOGOF deal ? 

$10.99 USD

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

$10.99 USD

Similar to UK prices then. However,  there are never BOGOFs on wine in the UK. Best we can hope for is a 25% off promotion, if you buy six or more bottles.

[Colorado Coasty]

Currently on Crown Princess, selection has been very limited. Silverado cab was our go to last week, this week there is no more on board.

Vines on Crown is a joke. If you can get a seat (all taken by non-wine drinkers) there is nothing special and service is terrible.

The martinis have been great.😋