Wine woe part deux

[Silver Spectre]

Happy on the Spirit, until last night being told that there is very little Dashwood left on board.

Just going to have to hold my nose and drink the French Sav Blanc.

[Isklaar]

Probably our fault, since we drank copious amounts of the Dashwood on the 20 December voyage :D
Do you not care for the Eco Emiliana or Porcupine Ridge savs? Assuming there is any left of either...
Head Sommelier Marijan was very amenable to allowing us to sample the alternates on our cruise.

[Isklaar]

Silver Spectre, I'm just watching Spirit transit of the Panama Canal, right now live on the webcam in Miraflores Locks. A canal transit is on my bucket list, hopefully for next year. It looks amazing and if this is your first transit of the canal I hope it in some way compensates for the Dashwood running out!

[Herman The Cat]

I agree with Isklaar--do talk to Marjan and describe what you like and don't like. He is best at taking an abstract description and coming up with a suitable, if not better, substitute. The other wine stewards are fine, but they will offer the standard fare--the South American wines, "The Crusher" (which I find horrific) etc. until they hit one that you like. On our pre-holiday cruise on the Spirit this past December, if I didn't like what was on offer on a given day, Marjan knew I knew wine and would offer something better or more along the lines of what I wanted. It sounds like you like crisp Aus Sauvignon Blanc--they have some nice wines from the Veneto region of Italy that you might enjoy. Marjan knew I was particular about wine and provided some excellent wines from the standard offering. Our friends were a bit hesitant to try something other than the one they liked, but were encouraged to do so and found something they liked even better. The only time we purchased wine was in La Champagne, for what I thought was a very reasonable price.

And don't forget to enjoy sampling the various wines! That's part of the fun! ;)

[Silver Spectre]

I agree with Isklaar--do talk to Marjan and describe what you like and don't like. He is best at taking an abstract description and coming up with a suitable, if not better, substitute. The other wine stewards are fine, but they will offer the standard fare--the South American wines, "The Crusher" (which I find horrific) etc. until they hit one that you like. On our pre-holiday cruise on the Spirit this past December, if I didn't like what was on offer on a given day, Marjan knew I knew wine and would offer something better or more along the lines of what I wanted. It sounds like you like crisp Aus Sauvignon Blanc--they have some nice wines from the Veneto region of Italy that you might enjoy. Marjan knew I was particular about wine and provided some excellent wines from the standard offering. Our friends were a bit hesitant to try something other than the one they liked, but were encouraged to do so and found something they liked even better. The only time we purchased wine was in La Champagne, for what I thought was a very reasonable price.

And don't forget to enjoy sampling the various wines! That's part of the fun! ;)

Thanks for your advice, however I know what I like and have tried most of the other offerings over the last 18 months. There is a second NZ Sav Blanc on board, Clifford Bay, but it has a rather odd taste, there are 2 chilean SB's and one from Argentina, ok'ish, but the french SB from the Loire Valley is the next best thing and that is running out too. My comments are more of a complaint that wines that are popular keep getting replaced by inferior ones.

There is still plenty for me to drink with a good Argentinian Malbec and a nice Barossa Valley Shiraz.

[mortgagemaster]

We found 2 excellent wines to our liking, a Primitivo (Italian red) and a Verdicchio (Italian white). When I commented to the sommelier how much we enjoyed the Primitivo a bottle magically appeared in our suite after dinner. As for sparkling wines/champagnes, we enjoyed the Prosecco they served as it was relatively dry for a Prosecco. The house Heidsick Monopole Blue Top champagne was also decent. Since the mini fridge does not cool well, we had our Butler, Narendra Chand, deliver a large ice bucket at 4 each day so I could put a bottle on ice. He was by far the BEST butler we have had, and I took every opportunity to write good things about him and also went to the Hotel Director's office and spoke with Martin about him.