Complimentary wines

[galeforce9]

Someone posted the complimentary wine list this week on Encore.  Thought it would be of interest.  Comments?  Rose 🤣 (doesn’t bother me).  Reds - not enough!  

[CruiserfaeFife]

Thanks for posting - we board Quest on Saturday so will be interesting to compare. 

I’m not wild on the choice of rose - would have like to see something from Provence.  Mateus Rose is a bit of a throwback to the 70’s for me 🤪

[brittany12]

 Not crazy about the roses is an understatement. Beringer White Zin? Give me a break. Mateus?

[docmark]

There is not a single California red wine on the list.... really poor.

[brittany12]

Problem is we don't know "fine wines."

[johng75370]

Always worth asking, as we've found they usually have some options not on the list.  We had the Roquesante Rose in July onboard; it's been offered onboard for years, so surprised not to see it here.  On both our April and July voyages they had the Raymond Cab and Raymond Chardonnay from California, but they did not have the Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio (another usual staple).  Lots of variation these days.

[brittany12]

Yes.  There are always some odds  and ends that are pretty good stashed away.  Agree,  have to ask the "sommeliers," since the servers not that knowledgeable about wines  to begin with. 

[Heather White]

A very disappointing list. Very sparse on the red wines. Nothing from Chile?

However there's a date on there, is the list perhaps changed daily?

[Robisan]

28 minutes ago, Heather White said:

A very disappointing list. Very sparse on the red wines.

No burgundy/pinot at all. No cabernet, only a Shiraz blend. That's unacceptable. Overall seems like a very truncated list. Hope this isn't another bad direction trend.

[marazul]

The three roses are bilge water. (I am being nice.)

The Koonuga Hill and the Guigal are cheap supermarket wines.

[saminina]

19 hours ago, CruiserfaeFife said:

 Mateus Rose is a bit of a throwback to the 70’s for me 🤪

Right after Ripple and Strawberry Hill at rock concerts.   Mateus for burning candles.  And Greek cruise lines.

[Hlitner]

A sad commentary.  Malbec from Argentina?  Nope.  Nice Zinfandel?  Nope.  A decent Pinot Noir?  Nope.  
 

Had dinner in Solis (Encore) last night and tried a couple of the included whites to pair with our Branzino.  Finally bought an $85 Sancerre, out of desperation.  The sommelier suggested the included Chenin Blanc, which we thought lacked any character or flavor.  The wine list is fine if one wants to buy a bottle and they do have some decent “by the glass” offerings …for a price.  The included wines we had on Oceania were far superior.  Plus they had a much larger selection.

 

Hank

[texanaust]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

The wine list is fine if one wants to buy a bottle and they do have some decent “by the glass” offerings …for a price

 

Seabourn offers paid wine by the glass now?  I thought they only sold premium wines by the bottle.

[Hlitner]

37 minutes ago, texanaust said:

 

Seabourn offers paid wine by the glass now?  I thought they only sold premium wines by the bottle.

In Solis, on the shorter wine list that is part of the menu, we noticed several wines listed with both a bottle and glass price.  We have no clue as to whether there is a similar option in the Restaurant.

 

Hank

[tjcox9]

12 hours ago, saminina said:

Right after Ripple and Strawberry Hill at rock concerts.   Mateus for burning candles.  And Greek cruise lines.

And the last time I saw one of the bottles, they are not even nice enough to burn candles in.

[Tony UK]

14 hours ago, saminina said:

Right after Ripple and Strawberry Hill at rock concerts.   Mateus for burning candles.  And Greek cruise lines.

Mateus with that strange fizz is awful. £6 a bottle locally. 

We are sailing from Monaco....you would think they could come up with a provence rose!

[brittany12]

I kind of think it's a new low for Seabourn. Pink zin and Mateus. Ugh. I completely agree about Provence and no lovely local rose on board. We've all seen over the years some really crappy wines on the  complementary "fine wines" list, but this discussion underscores just how bad it's gotten.  Having said this, on the Sojourn in early July we surprisingly never had a problem finding enjoyable wines of any color on the complementary list. 

[nancygp]

17 minutes ago, brittany12 said:

Having said this, on the Sojourn in early July we surprisingly never had a problem finding enjoyable wines of any color on the complementary list. 

Same for late July through mid August…

[Capri73]

Same here .We were on in July and never had an issue.I actually found a new wine that I really enjoyed.

[tv24]

On 8/28/2024 at 1:23 AM, CruiserfaeFife said:

Thanks for posting - we board Quest on Saturday so will be interesting to compare. 

I’m not wild on the choice of rose - would have like to see something from Provence.  Mateus Rose is a bit of a throwback to the 70’s for me 🤪

We left the Quest on August 7 and there were lots of other complementary wines not on this Encore list.

[galeforce9]

1 hour ago, tv24 said:

We left the Quest on August 7 and there were lots of other complementary wines not on this Encore list.

Sounds like encore’s stock is sub par compared to sojourn and quest in particular.  Hopefully management will rectify this in Athens with local purchases 

[diebroke]

Sadly, next month United Airlines will serve us far better “included” wines in Polaris Class (along with lousy food) when we fly to Rome than Seabourn will serve us once we board Ovation if this list is the same as on Ovation. (To be fair, United has really upped the quality of their wines in business class in the last 6 months.) Seabourn’s included wines have been disappointing since we started sailing the “little sisters” many years ago. This list, however, seems to mark a new low. To call them “fine wines” is dishonest.

The whites are o.k. The retail prices on the whites range from $14 to $25 (except for the Flanagan Beauty of Three) & get ratings that are 3.4 – 3.9 on a 5.0 scale. I might serve some of them at a big party.

As has been noted, the Beringer White Zin & Mateus are not close to “fine” with retail prices under $10.

The reds are a major disappointment with retail prices ranging from $13 to $17 & no Pinot Noir (perhaps because there is no such thing as a good, cheap Pinot,) no Cab, no Merlot.

I would think a fine dining chef would be embarrassed to pair these wines with his food.

I’m going to run out of my onboard credit quite quickly.

Full disclosure – my friends call me a wine connoisseur to my face & a wine snob behind my back. I accept either label on CC.

[brittany12]

Ditto Diebroke. My thoughts exactly on the history and status of Seabourn's "fine wines,", and double ditto the lousy United Polaris meals. We fly them in trepidation to Johannesburg in December to pick up an Oceanea cruise, where we expect once again to experience "The best food at Sea" as they righty call it, with their four different speciality restaurants plus the MDR. Appreciating with knowledge the quality of wines is worth whatever the label.

[Happydays2024]

The wines were never great but they have become quite dreadful. I am surprised they did not fine some Blue Nun wine to go with the dreadful Mateus Rose. The Ripasso was ok. I like the Champagne.
 

Overall on our Encore cruise there were a lot more misses than hits. It feels like the whole cruise industry has come down a few levels. Can be turned around by good management with decision making, and being less formulaic/corporate. Need overnights in ports and some later stops, better included wines, more intuitive service, and definitely improve food consistency and quality. Actually maybe we need a new line….

[pyffii]

I took up this very issue last month on Sojourn....They had limited Penfold Koonanga Hill ( Yes I'm a bit of a wine connoisseur ) which was just Ok and Nine Hats Cabernet....but the rest of the complementary wines were under $10AUD so I took this up with the Head Sommelier and Harry, the Hotel Director who were both understanding but said all wines were allocated by head office....my response was that I could list dozens of Australian wines under $20AUD that would knock the socks off anything that Seabourn could or would provide....Any in many cases we're paying circa $1500AUD a day per suite....Lift your game Seabourn