Whining about wine

[J & G]

How about a nice whine cooler????:D:D:D

[garardo]

Sadly, there are some of us who think "two-buck-Chuck" is just fine. Actually, I can't really tell the difference between it and the average $10-15 (retail) California wine. Because of that, I just can't enjoy spending $6-8 plus tip for the basic California wine onboard.

 

Since I don't drink much and DH doesn't drink at all, I can get by on our two bottles of 2BC. And then for a special meal, I will go for a premium wine (which definitely does taste different/better).

 

Not sure there's anything the cruise lines can do when customers' tastes have been dumbed down to my level except just let us bring it on ;-)

 

Don't let any one give you flack on what a good bottle of wine is. If a bottle of 2BC is a good wine to you then it is a great wine. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of tasting in a structured tasting enviorment with a professional to learn the differance between the so called "good Stuff" and the 2BC.

 

 

garardo

[FinelyCruising]

Don't let any one give you flack on what a good bottle of wine is. If a bottle of 2BC is a good wine to you then it is a great wine. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of tasting in a structured tasting enviorment with a professional to learn the differance between the so called "good Stuff" and the 2BC.

 

 

garardo

 

You are right...I am a sucker in local stores for the signs that read..Tastes like $40.00 wine.

 

I say OK, let's buy it and try it and see if its true.:D

[GRBlizz]

Thanks, Garardo! I did get a gift of a bottle of Stag's Leap, and boy, that was definitely better than my 2BC. It's somewhere in the middle that my palate gets muddled.

[FinelyCruising]

Thanks, Garardo! I did get a gift of a bottle of Stag's Leap, and boy, that was definitely better than my 2BC. It's somewhere in the middle that my palate gets muddled.

 

Your Stags Leap example IMHO is a good example of a local retail and an on board price.

 

Beware the vintage and cost no matter where or what the grape....many advertise the best vintage via the ID card at the bin and with magazine publication points and price points to match a vintage, but don't actually *sell* that vintage for the grape they are offering at the time the bottles it in the bins.

 

Wines are a business and it pays to know what you are getting when you pay for the expected better than KJ type restaurant stabilized mass produced wines.

 

Which I happen to enjoy as a predictable staple from time to time.

[mpduquaine]

I would love to come to your house.....sounds like you have a wonderful supply.

I have come to LOVE a great red wine, due to my brothers very large wine selection also over the years. He lived close to NAPA valley for 15 years and then came back home to WISCONSIN and converted all of us beer drinkers to

high class wine wine drinkers....:)

We love when he spoils us with his fabulous wine collection.

[garardo]

Your Stags Leap example IMHO is a good example of a local retail and an on board price.

 

Beware the vintage and cost no matter where or what the grape....many advertise the best vintage via the ID card at the bin and with magazine publication points and price points to match a vintage, but don't actually *sell* that vintage for the grape they are offering at the time the bottles it in the bins.

 

Wines are a business and it pays to know what you are getting when you pay for the expected better than KJ type restaurant stabilized mass produced wines.

 

Which I happen to enjoy as a predictable staple from time to time.

 

Yes, wine is a business but please understand that the quality of the wine is in the quality of the grapes used and that all I repeat all wine that is made commericaily is stablilzed. There are many other factors that establish the price of a bottle of wine. The largest is supply and demand. The winery will charge what ever it feels the market will bare for their product.

 

garardo

[silvercity]

For wine you buy and drink what you like. If thats a $5 bottle then thats it. If its a $75 bottle than thats it. I have been collecting and drinking wine for 18 years. X wine list is good but good enough. Just look at the list they supply in there packages to order before you sail. Simply put ....They suck! The inventory and prices and just plain lousy!. I have stated before here that you need to bring your on wine. If you can bring on more than 2 bottles do so. I will certainly enjoy paying the corkage fee for any one of my own bottles and will have then decanted....2,3,4,5,6,7,...:D

[mpduquaine]

I agree with you. I myself prefer higher end wines and do not purchase on board. Actually on my last Holland. I bought an Old Patch Red by Trentadue. (only because I ran out of the wine I brought) I paid through the wine club $30 a bottle on HAL it was $86 plus grat.

I drink Old Patch as a daily wine and would never spend $86 on a daily wine.

It was the nicest bottle on their list and still wasn't the best.

Bring your own, pay the corkage and enjoy the wine that you want to drink:D

[silvercity]

I would love to come to your house.....sounds like you have a wonderful supply.

I have come to LOVE a great red wine, due to my brothers very large wine selection also over the years. He lived close to NAPA valley for 15 years and then came back home to WISCONSIN and converted all of us beer drinkers to

high class wine wine drinkers....:)

We love when he spoils us with his fabulous wine collection.

 

From Napa try Spootswood Estate Cab...It is just awesome. The 2002 is one of the greatest. It will cellar for 30 years. Also if you like Australian try Mollydooker Boxer shiraz...Should be about $20-$30 and its is a blockbuster. They also make a wine called Carnival of Love and its a one to put away and enjoy later. It can be drunk now or rewarded later. If you collect wine I suggest to always by 3 bottles to try. One for now, one for next year and one for years later. Amazing to watch it change and evolve. Also I decanted almost all my wine and certainly younger wine for sure. Decanting alsoultly helps air out the wine. Lastly Champagne to behold is KRUG. It is my very favorite wine.

[BrendaJ]

One more question for you experts:

 

Will Celebrity provide the proper glasses for grape type if you ask? My brother, who considers himself a wine snob, says he would never drink a Cab out of a Merlot glass.

 

Mind you, the guy can be a pompous windbag, but I have compared the taste of wine in different stemware, and it does make quite a difference sometimes.

[silvercity]

One more question for you experts:

 

Will Celebrity provide the proper glasses for grape type if you ask? My brother, who considers himself a wine snob, says he would never drink a Cab out of a Merlot glass.

 

Mind you, the guy can be a pompous windbag, but I have compared the taste of wine in different stemware, and it does make quite a difference sometimes.

 

I do agree with you and your brother. It does make a difference. Mind you I would drink a glass a wine out of tin mug if thats what was only available. Its a good question especially since Celebrity markets Riedel stemware.

[Lsimon]

One more question for you experts:

 

Will Celebrity provide the proper glasses for grape type if you ask? My brother, who considers himself a wine snob, says he would never drink a Cab out of a Merlot glass...

 

I do agree with you and your brother. It does make a difference. Mind you I would drink a glass a wine out of tin mug if thats what was only available. Its a good question especially since Celebrity markets Riedel stemware.

 

 

Hi Brenda!

 

In the stateroom we've usually just gotten very basic generic style wine glasses or champagne glasses. In the dining room they always have red or white wine glasses as appropriate and if a more expensive bottle is ordered they'll usually bring Riedel glasses. I've read comments from people who have brought upscale wines to the dining room, with the corkage fee, and had Riedel glasses brought and wine decanted if appropriate. I'd discuss with your someiller in the dining room in advance if you want those and I'm sure they'd accomodate - especially with the paid corkage fee.

[SusieV]

One more question for you experts:

 

Will Celebrity provide the proper glasses for grape type if you ask? My brother, who considers himself a wine snob, says he would never drink a Cab out of a Merlot glass.

 

Mind you, the guy can be a pompous windbag, but I have compared the taste of wine in different stemware, and it does make quite a difference sometimes.

 

We have had the appropriate glassware brought upon request. The hilarious thing was, when the table next to us saw that we had "special" wineglasses, they insisted on having them with their house wine! Wonder if it tasted any better. :cool: They actually yelled at the sommelier because they felt she was shortchanging them with the regular glassware...

[goofymd]

Boy, has this thread become fun.

 

a few replys to statements first:

 

Brenda- I agree you brother is right, but only to a point. a good stem vs a big thick glass defiantly makes a difference. But does a riedel sommelier cab vs merlot make a difference- for most people I don't think so.

 

to who ever likes 2BC- i agree, anyone who tells you what you should or shouldn't like is full of it. You like what you like and that is all that matters. my wine group will drink wines and dramatically disagree on which we like, and we all have good palates. Even the "experts: disagree .

drink what you like and like what you drink!

 

 

Silvercity, Disclaimer "all my comments are made with a jealousy factor of my cellar being 1/3rd of yours."

 

I recognize the difficulty of broad recommendations of wine on a board. I think Spottswood is always good- as is Seavy, for a napa cab. I think the Mollydooker is a better bet for newer drinkers but very over extracted.(not my style).

as for the Krug, while an excellent champagne, I have found it a little off putting (even the NV) for people not used to the style. a very big yeasty meal. where as almost all will like dom.

 

 

Now for the rub, look at the differing levels on just this thread. some like @Bc and would not pay $20 for a bottle. Some have cellars and have bottles worth hundreds, but feel ripped off to pay $60 for a mediocre wine. How do you satisfy all?

I think I originally misread the OP. I would never want crafted wine (in fact I disliked cruise lines that included bottles of wine, because they were not what I wanted to drink).

 

I wish they would allow more than 2 bottle ( Silvercity, did you know that is their policy- the rest to be confiscated?). I do intend on bringing more..let them try to take it !!?? (and I agree, I have no problem paying corkage)

[silvercity]

Boy, has this thread become fun.

 

a few replys to statements first:

 

Brenda- I agree you brother is right, but only to a point. a good stem vs a big thick glass defiantly makes a difference. But does a riedel sommelier cab vs merlot make a difference- for most people I don't think so.

 

to who ever likes 2BC- i agree, anyone who tells you what you should or shouldn't like is full of it. You like what you like and that is all that matters. my wine group will drink wines and dramatically disagree on which we like, and we all have good palates. Even the "experts: disagree .

drink what you like and like what you drink!

 

 

Silvercity, Disclaimer "all my comments are made with a jealousy factor of my cellar being 1/3rd of yours."

 

I recognize the difficulty of broad recommendations of wine on a board. I think Spottswood is always good- as is Seavy, for a napa cab. I think the Mollydooker is a better bet for newer drinkers but very over extracted.(not my style).

as for the Krug, while an excellent champagne, I have found it a little off putting (even the NV) for people not used to the style. a very big yeasty meal. where as almost all will like dom.

 

 

Now for the rub, look at the differing levels on just this thread. some like @Bc and would not pay $20 for a bottle. Some have cellars and have bottles worth hundreds, but feel ripped off to pay $60 for a mediocre wine. How do you satisfy all?

I think I originally misread the OP. I would never want crafted wine (in fact I disliked cruise lines that included bottles of wine, because they were not what I wanted to drink).

 

I wish they would allow more than 2 bottle ( Silvercity, did you know that is their policy- the rest to be confiscated?). I do intend on bringing more..let them try to take it !!?? (and I agree, I have no problem paying corkage)

Hey when are cruising? I like you style...I need a good wine buddy...:D;)

[snowglobe]

Will Celebrity properly decant your wine, assuming you bring or purchase a bottle that would benefit from the process?

 

Yes. Last week on the Infinity, we had a great bottle of (name of wine removed) decanted for us in the specialty restaurant. I called, maybe an hour ahead before arriving at our reserved time, telling them that we were bringing a bottle that would require decanting. When we arrived, we handed the bottle we had brought over to the sommelier and it was brought to our table to be opened and decanted for us. (corkage fee of $25)

 

I loved the service and food choices on the Infinity, but I must say that the sommelier service was very weak and unknowledgeable. Our MDR sommelier wasn't even aware of his own X winelist listings! The very first night, I had to send a bottle back because the blend we had asked about wasn't at all the same varietals that he told us it was! Luckily, I read the bottle's label before he opened it and realized that we would not have enjoyed it much, since it was 39% of the one varietal we had *specifically* told him we did not like when he helped make our selection. :( Needless to say, we didn't ask for his opinion again!

 

In addition, when we tried the Menu Exceptionel the first time that we went to the specialty restaurant (SS United States), the first wine poured was flat -- no smell, no taste! :eek: The sommelier finally came over after I insisted to have my glass replaced, and he agreed that it was flat. Instead of opening a fresh bottle, he poured a different wine altogether and explained that all throughout the ship, they always keep an opened bottle two days... which is usually death for a white wine and not too great for most reds!

 

I was really expecting more from Celebrity: better expertise on the part of the sommeliers, better wine choices - more selection and better wines overall for all price ranges. For example, all available chardonnays were oaked. There was an extremely limited range of reds, representing very few varietals.

 

The huge weak spot regarding Infinity's wines and sommelier service was a disappointment and wasn't congruent with the rest of our experience. We were very satisfied with everything else.

[snowglobe]

The unamed wine we brought to the specialty restaurant was Tytanium, a fantastic red produced by Sonoma's Ty Caton winery ;)

[DrKoob]

However, I just try to remember than every night on a cruise ship is like an evening at a good restaurant. And, in south Louisiana, you can't get a decent (not great - just decent) glass of wine in any restaurant for less that $7-$10 per glass. Somewhere I saw that Celebrity has La Crema chardonnay for $38/bottle. We had it at dinner last week and paid $10 per glass! If there are four glasses in a bottle, we paid more here than we'll pay there.

 

What I do think is a shame is that you can't bring or buy your own wine for your own consumption in your own cabin. It's one thing to pay restaurant prices for wine served in a restaurant setting - but I do kinda object to paying them for my evening glass of wine on the balcony. I'll take my two bottles on at embarkation - and since we'll be overnighting in Venice before we sail, I may try to bring on an additional bottle or two while I going back and forth. The worst they can do is put it into bond until the end of the cruise - and then I'll enjoy it in Barcelona after the cruise!

 

Ah well - the good so far outweighs the bad that I try not to think about it!:)

 

Happy cruising,

Donia

 

Donia,

To get more than one bottle of wine per person on board here are two things you can try. First, make friends with people on your cruise's thread. We have found that there are plenty of folks who either don't drink or don't like wine in the group that are very happy to take a bottle aboard for us.

 

Another thing we have done (in Seattle boarding Infinity last year) is to board with six bottles. We noted that the people in front of us were not carrying wine and the same was true of those behind us. When asked where the people for the rest of our six bottles were we pointed ahead at the two folks in front of us and the two behind. It worked like a charm. Six bottles on board.

 

It's worth a shot.

 

Jim

[snowglobe]

For me, the whole issue about bringing our wine onboard, without limits, is one of quality and preference, not one of price -- that bottle cost $75 + the $25 corkage fee. And I *was certain* that it would be great, because I knew the wine!

 

There are a couple of other wines in the $15-20 range that I would have *gladly* paid the corkage fee worth more than the bottle itself, just for the pleasure of enjoying a wine that we really like. :D

 

Call us "cork dorks", but we've been known to make menu choices based on our wine choice, instead of vice-versa... :p

[goofymd]

Hey when are cruising? I like you style...I need a good wine buddy...:D;)

 

would love to meet up if lucky enough to be on the same cruise. we are going to Alaska on june 12.

[silvercity]

would love to meet up if lucky enough to be on the same cruise. we are going to Alaska on june 12.

 

Some other day Maby.Were off to the Mediterranean

[tyfh]

They all say "2 bottles" ... do they limit the size of the bottle? Meaning ... could I bring 2 5 ltr. bottles?

[silvercity]

They all say "2 bottles" ... do they limit the size of the bottle? Meaning ... could I bring 2 5 ltr. bottles?

 

I like your style....Why not I say!;)