Queens Grill wines ...

[Ab Ovo]

Curious about this. On the last QM2 westbound crossing, Dec. 15-22, friends dined in Queens Grill. A bottle of red wine was ordered. It wasn't expensive, it arrived with proper stemware. Mid-bottle they noticed a nearby table also had a bottle of red, a more expensive one, and the wine glasses were larger. This tweaked their interest, they looked about and at another table sat a very fine, very expensive, red wine … with the wine glasses being ever larger! This didn't come up until Christmas Day, caused fun conversation. Would three different-priced wines served in three different-sized wine glasses just be an odd coincidence that evening? Could it be the style of the room? Good-Better-Best/Large-Larger-Largest? Anyone else ever notice/experience this?

[pmb1]

What an interesting observation, and provocative explanation. I've never noticed the phenomenon myself, but I'll look for it in the future. Pity no one in your party thought to ask the sommelier about it.

[paulista1950]

each wine has it's proper glass.

http://winefolly.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Types-of-Wine-Glasses-Chart.png

[Ab Ovo]

Excellent, Paulista, thanks. I've never thought The Queens Grill enough sophisticated to carry five different stemmed bowls for reds, but could be ... the chart makes perfect sense. (There are different stemmed bowls in the suites' bars, but they're the one for red, one for white, a flute sort.) The thought came up after being off ship; I asked at the first restaurant I was in, but the question confused The Wine Guy.

[canny_cruiser]

Not noticed this particular phenomena but I was very surprised indeed that they had no Vac-u-Vins in the Queens Grill on QM2. They had them in the Britannia restauranr on the Queen Victoria. If I'd known, I'd have taken my own!

 

Of course, this may just be another ploy to have you consume your wine quicker :(

Edited January 5, 2014 by canny_cruiser

[paulista1950]

As I said, it MAY be. ;)

[Colin_Cameron]

I've never thought The Queens Grill enough sophisticated to carry five different stemmed bowls for reds, but could be ...

 

It's not just in the Queens Grill. The same thing happens in the Britannia as well. Not all the time. I guess it depends on how busy the wine steward is.

 

A few weeks ago on QV the wine steward would replace the standard set wine glass according to what we had ordered.

 

Regards, Colin.

[canny_cruiser]

When I sailed on the QV, the wine waiter in the Britannia was excellent, a lad from somewhere in eastern Europe. He kept our glasses filled and had a Vac-u-Vin! Didn't notice the different glasses then although maybe my table of 10 solo travellers were all on the "cheapos" :p

 

Compare this to my one & only cruise on Costa (another Carnival line) where we were all left to pour our own wine, even solo ladies. I didn't buy wine again after the first night as I was dam*ed sure I wasn't paying 15% service for no service!

Edited January 5, 2014 by canny_cruiser

[Whitemarsh]

I noticed the size difference in glasses in the Princess Grill and was told that the more expensive wines get a bigger glass.

[Underwatr]

Our table mates chastised the wine waitress about the small wine glasses at the table in Britannia and she rounded up two "proper" glasses for them. I noticed later in the week that we had begun getting the larger glasses also.

[brigittetom]

I noticed the size difference in glasses in the Princess Grill and was told that the more expensive wines get a bigger glass.

 

Is it really such a good thing that the whole room must know that you ordered the "cheapo" wine by the size of your glass?

 

With the sommelier being so overworked in Britannia, I would think it would be to their advantage to use the preferred larger glasses for all orders. I just don't see the purpose of giving the big spenders bigger glasses as I'm sure no one orders expensive wine for the "show". :)

[Mid-Atlantic Ridge]

Is it really such a good thing that the whole room must know that you ordered the "cheapo" wine by the size of your glass?

 

With the sommelier being so overworked in Britannia, I would think it would be to their advantage to use the preferred larger glasses for all orders. I just don't see the purpose of giving the big spenders bigger glasses as I'm sure no one orders expensive wine for the "show". :)

 

I enjoy red wine and would mention that the taste of red can be altered subtly and for the better by a larger glass. There is science behind it but I'm not confident I know enough to comment further. It is certainly true of "big" red wines which by coincidence usually happen to be the more expensive.

 

There is a lovely Château Clerc Milon on the wine list which assures you and your companion of the "big glass" treatment, the trade off being a simultaneous rapid depletion of your OBC! :)

 

M-AR

[brigittetom]

Thank you for that charming reply. I do get it to a point...but...:)

[Whitemarsh]

Is it really such a good thing that the whole room must know that you ordered the "cheapo" wine by the size of your glass?

 

Honestly, I don't think anyone cares. Which is a good thing :)

[Chunky2219]

Yes, I've seen this. We've also had smaller glasses for a rather expensive wine when we were giving the ball a kick and never thought anything of it - I'm not far enough into that stuff to know if that particular tipple needed a goldfish bowl or a thimble.

 

Done properly, it is nothing to do with the price of the wine. It should be about the type of wine as M-AR suggests. Reidel have made a lot of money out of expensive wine glasses on this basis. All this, of course is a bit of a style thing because so long as you can get your nose in the glass everything is pretty much okay.

 

By the same token, I've observed a solo diner in QG who always had the biggest glass available, even when he was drinking the budget stuff, irrespective of origin or variety. The somellier knew what made him happy and was able to give him the big stemware for every meal. Maybe the chap was a bit too conscious of his surroundings, he certainly didn't have a super sized nose.

 

A good somellier will automatically trot out the smaller glasses if he has spotted that you are the sort of quaffer who will pick up the bottle and top up almost to the brim, before he can wander over to carefully pour another inch in an almost empty goblet.

 

 

.

Edited January 7, 2014 by Chunky2219
typo

[Ab Ovo]

The couple noticing this -- it was Voyage M333, the night the man choked to death in Queens Grill -- got back on 03 January. They asked the wine steward and e-mailed me they were told more expensive wines did get a bigger glass. Three-sized bowls in Queens Grill. Whitemarsh says he noticed this in Princess Grill. I'd imagine it is that way throughout the ship, certainly in the dining rooms. I can see a good sommelier paying attention, knowing to put a "big red" in a large bowl, because as Mid-Atlantic Ridge says it is so "the taste of red can be altered subtly and for the better by a larger glass." Shapes be blasted, for me no matter the wine, the color or the grape, rather than stocking Bordeaux, Burgundy, Cabernet or Merlot bowls, I like to put everything in a large stemmed globe. I've made a very scientific study among the five people I know and even cola tastes better so served! :D

[brigittetom]

it was Voyage M333, the night the man choked to death in Queens Grill

 

 

Did you inadvertently leave out a detail about that evening. :eek:

Edited January 10, 2014 by brigittetom

[Ab Ovo]

Yes, they lost one, as some would say. Friends dining in the room told me about it. A man choked a dinner. Quickly waiters shielded the table with tablecloths, effecting as much dignity as possible. I was in Kings Court and saw staff officers rushing by, heard "Code Alpha in Queens Grill" over the Tannoy. The medics arrived, but he didn't make it. QM2 is prepared for such events, having six cold chambers in a small morgue.

 

When I got home I received the man's picture! Small World: he was the older brother of a childhood friend's best friend. He was 93, returning home following a trip to London. Harrison Marshall Robertson Jr. of Palm Beach, a former Assistant Attorney General of Maryland. He headed the UVA Alumni Association at one point. R.I.P.

[orvil]

In QG, in the back of the wine menu, you can order by the glass. Three sizes of pours are offered. We ordered by the glass on a number of nights, we aren't big drinkers. When we placed the order, the sommelier would ask us about the size of pour we desired. This is one possible explanation as to multiple glass sizes.

 

We brought a bottle of a favorite wine, a Robert Sinskey Pinot Noir. They were most gracious about serving it. They charged a nominal pouring fee. The sommelier was unfamiliar with it and we insisted he have a sample pour. It was an assumption on my part, but I think much of his expertise was European. He certainly seemed to enjoy it. Probably too polite to spit it out:)

[Kiltboys]

Honestly, I don't think anyone cares. Which is a good thing :)

 

Not true, I'm afraid. A guy at an adjoining table that we were on "hello" terms with came over and asked our sommelier why our glasses were bigger than his glasses. The sommelier just smiled, and the guy eventually answered his own question. It was funny.