Inclusive wines

[janecambridge]

Does anyone have an up to date list of inclusive wines. All the photos I have seen are older wine lists or to be paid for. Thanks 

[JMMKUK]

The inclusive wines are drinkable. If you don't like the wines of the day they will get you something else from the limited range.

We've never had to pay to get a wine that was drinkable but have become friends with guests who have. She was a white drinker & we drink red.

I've never recognised the labels but we usually drink European wines at home.

[janecambridge]

Thanks. I’m getting that they are “house wines” but wondering what that means! Can we choose a Pinot for example or a Merlot? 

[FatBoy20]

4 minutes ago, janecambridge said:

Thanks. I’m getting that they are “house wines” but wondering what that means! Can we choose a Pinot for example or a Merlot? 

They usually have one Red & one White as a "Wine of the Day" which are usually from 3 white,2 Red & a Rose. If you like a particular one they will serve that to you on request. The Whites are Pinot/Chardonay/Savignon Blanc.

[david05]

There are usually at least 3 reds available. On our last cruise we had a choice of a pinotage (very popular they ran out of it a few days before the  end of the cruise), a merlot, a shiraz, and a tempranillo. There are also 2 rose - a sweet one and a dry one. As well as the whites already mentioned there was a very nice chenin blanc. As mentioned already you can ask for any of the wines, you don't have to stick to the wines of the day.

[beaujolais]

We have just returned from the SoA Christmas cruise and the complimentary wines were the worst we have ever been offered on over 20 years of cruising apart from the dry rose'

The wines offered are all available at discount stores in the UK at under £6 a bottle, I checked online

We drank from the "to pay" offerings mainly after the first few nights

[lincslady]

As might  be expected, whether you can get on with the included wines depends on what you usually drink at home.  Those of us whose regular tipples are in the £6 to £8 range should be satisfied with the choices, which, as said, do usually include about four whites and four reds, and saying the grape you would like works, if the one on offer that day is not to your liking.  The included wines on the small 'luxury' lines I have been on are usually of a similar standard, surprisingly.

[david05]

12 minutes ago, beaujolais said:

We have just returned from the SoA Christmas cruise and the complimentary wines were the worst we have ever been offered on over 20 years of cruising apart from the dry rose'

The wines offered are all available at discount stores in the UK at under £6 a bottle, I checked online

We drank from the "to pay" offerings mainly after the first few night's

Wine can be a very personal choice. We were on the same cruise and we enjoyed the pinotage and shiraz (Banrock Station which is £8 in Tesco), as well as the chenin blanc (our go to wine when fancied something at lunchtime) and the sweet rose. We didn't try the merlot or tempranillo as we didn't like these on previous cruises but we know others enjoyed them - it's all a matter of taste but most people should find at least a couple of wines to enjoy.

Edited January 14 by david05

[david05]

It might be worth mentioning that you can also ask for a glass of sparkling white wine as an alternative to the still wines.

[Bloodaxe]

17 minutes ago, beaujolais said:

We have just returned from the SoA Christmas cruise and the complimentary wines were the worst we have ever been offered on over 20 years of cruising apart from the dry rose'

The wines offered are all available at discount stores in the UK at under £6 a bottle, I checked online

We drank from the "to pay" offerings mainly after the first few nights

 

We also decided to purchase wine after the first few nights has they are very reasonable prices, cheaper than many restaurants on land.

[janecambridge]

Getting a picture of choices. I agree some luxury cruises  have base priced wines but often a list at least! Thank you. Guess it will be a wine tasting from the start. 

 

Edited January 14 by janecambridge

[JMMKUK]

There was one themed buffet in the Grill where they had bought local wine in the port to accompany the buffet.

Sorry, but I can't remember which port.

[Medeba]

21 hours ago, janecambridge said:

Does anyone have an up to date list of inclusive wines. All the photos I have seen are older wine lists or to be paid for. Thanks 

Not sure if the old lists you refer to includes the list of drinks I posted in the 'Included Drinks' thread (post 4 on page 4 of this forum) but, if not, you may find it helpful.  I expect that some changes have been made since then and hopefully someone will have taken a photo on a more recent cruise than mine.

[janecambridge]

I saw your list thank you. It doesn’t say which wines are included? 

[twotravellersLondon]

 

We've cruised with SAGA four times in the last year or so and from memory the wines could differ from day to day... so there may not be a set list for the dining rooms.

 

We remember CYT Chardonnay, Tolva Merlot, Mountain Range Cabernet Rose and Versare Pinot Grigio.

 

Certainly not great wines but around £8 to £10 a bottle if bought by the case from Waitrose, Tanners, Lathwaites, Majestic and so on.

 

These are all pretty easy-drinking table wines. We were once in the hospitality industry and for years I was the "banqueting manager" for a charity... if we were retailing these wines in a Gastro-pub, we would be charging about £10 for a large 250 ml  glass and around £30 for a bottle. In our opinion... good enough to serve with most meals and similar to what I would put on for a banquet.

 

These wines are better and would retail at a higher price that what's available in many of our local restaurants.

 

Interestingly while we've tried a few wines from the sommelier's pay-extra-list, we found that we were very unusual in doing so... most folk just seem to go with the flow.

 

[nosapphire]

My impression is that Saga do not have a "fixed" list of included wines; it varies, probably depending on who made the last order.

It is correct that a high precentage of them are wines found on the upper-middle shelf at major supermarkets.

This, to my mind, is a pretty clever way of choosing the included wines.

Supermarkets need high turnover, so will prioritise wines that they know people will continue to buy.

It would be reasonable to suppose that a majority of cruise passengers will find the same wines perfectly acceptable as included wines.

 

Most people on the cruises we have been on seemed quite happy.

Once we were next to a table with some chaps who, from the bits of conversation we overheard, were rather fussy about their wines.

They asked for the wine list, and sounded disappointed that the varieties they expected were not listed.

"Might as well suffer the included plonk" said one.

The included plonk was offered, accepted, duly poured.

Sipped. Paused. Sipped. Paused.

"Actually, this is pretty good" - said in a tone of immense surprise.

Think they happily worked their way along the included wines for the rest of the cruise.

 

 

 

[Windsurfboy]

The included  sparkling is better in speciality restaurants than MDR, don't know why. Get a glass from supper club bar.

 

To significantly  improve on the included wines need to go to top end of pay for. Wines at £30 to 40 . Good news Saga charge same as wine merchants,  so would be £100 in most restaurants. 

 

Except for the occasional treat of top pay for wine,  on other days avoided house wine may be a odd glass of sparkling. As a nice cocktail before dinner, and a malt or armagnac or two after dinner was plenty. Included spirits far better than included wine.