Plying The High Seas With California, New World & Old World Wines
Yes, California wine is a dominant force in the world of wine. But will California wine be available during our cruise traversing the Pacific Ocean through the Panama Canal to the Caribbean Sea? On our cruise we were expecting to find lot of New World South American wines, not so much California or Old World European wines.
But to our surprise, the Norwegian Bliss’ wonderfully curated wine list was full of New World and Old World wines from four continents. Wines from Africa, South America, Europe, Oregon, Washington and California were plentiful on the boat. We’re pleased we left our wine tucked away at home.
Do you want to compare an Israeli Chardonnay against a California Chardonnay? Perhaps you want to compare a French Pinot Noir against an Oregon Pinot Noir? Oh my, this is the perfect opportunity for side-by-side comparison.
Many people shy away from drink packages on the boat like this, because your amortization, your ROI so to speak, can be upwards of 7 drinks a day. Who can keep up? This brings to mind the adage, ‘You can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning.’
| ‘The ‘black glass’ wine tasting was an eye-opening ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ moment. It taught us how much we depend on visual cues to assist our nose and palate while enjoying beverages.’ |
We booked our cruise through Norwegian’s Free at Sea program with it’s complimentary beverage program. It paid off with a wonderful opportunity for exploring wine from around the world.
So if you run the numbers, two $19 glasses of wine (retail price of a middle grade wine on the boat) would pencil out easily. If you’re comparing and contrasting wine while you are pairing it with dinner, four different glasses of wine is an easy target (no, you’re not drinking all of them.) And that doesn’t include the beer you might have at lunch and perhaps a margarita or mai tai during your afternoon pool time.
The Norwegian Bliss’ collection of California Wine included Silverado Vineyards, Duckhorn, Wente, Argyle, Amuse, Kendall-Jackson, Spellbound, Oberon, Simi, Stag’s Leap, Shafer, Jordan, Caymus, Ferrari-Carano, Spellbound, Amuse Bouche and Opus One.
There were a pair of Level 2 Sommeliers on board with great knowledge of Old World and New World wines. You could attend seminars on wine, seminars like cheese pairing and chocolate pairing (less educational for us, because it’s easy to enjoy wine when your palate is layered with fat from cheese and chocolate….how can any wine taste poorly?)
| ‘Our investment in the drink package worked well for us because we enjoy wine. Spirits are okay. Beer is okay. We really enjoy wine.’ |
We opted to participate in a New World Vs Old World tasting. We also participated in a ‘black glass’ blind tasting. Both of them cost less than $25 apiece and were well worth the money.
With our Cellar Master I Guiste Widitama we tasted European Sauvignon Blanc against a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. As well we compared Pinot Noir from Oregon against the same wine from France. And of course, you need to compare Cabernet Sauvignon. In this case it was French versus California. The Minerality and acidic palate of Europe was an interesting contrast to the fruit forward wines of the US and South America.
The ‘black glass’ wine tasting was an eye-opening ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ moment. It taught us how much we depend on visual cues to assist our nose and palate while enjoying beverages.
Imagine receiving your wine in a black, opaque glasses. Even if you look inside the black glass you cannot discern the color because it just looks black. All you can discern is nose and palate. Here comes the hard part.
Without sight of our wine’s color, it was amazing how difficult it was to determine varietal. The whole exercise taught us a lesson in humility and how important vision is to tasting wine. Some at our table came close to identifying the correct varietal. Most did not.
Our investment in the drink package worked well for us because we enjoy wine. Spirits are okay. Beer is okay. We really enjoy wine, which is why we write these missives about California wine and its tasting rooms.
So as a wine lover preparing to go on your cruise, make sure you inquire about the breadth of your ship’s wine list. In this case Norwegian Cruise lines performs a phenomenal job in partnership with Michael Mondavi Family Wine Bar aboard. It was well spent money and a great way to compare and contrast wines of the world. And, of course, comparing them to California wines.
Bill & Erin Hodge write about California Wine, the estates & winemakers producing them and educational information about Vino. Living in California Wine Country provides a front row seat to the places you want to visit the most here in the Golden State.
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